Come And Get It

So okay, I'm not real good at this whole writing thing, but I'll do the best that I can. Right…I'd awakened that night as the sun fell behind the earth. So, what do I hear first off? Little Stevie's pounding feet scurrying across the dirty floor of the basement of at the orphanage, the place I sleep.

"Aunt Josie! Aunt Josie! They all up ‘der gonna go an’ kill 'em!"

Panic. I panicked…jumped clear out of bed and dove to pick him up. I don't know what I thought I'd do with it, but in one smooth movement I picked up a broom as well.

"What's going on?!?" I shouted, alarmed. Stevie explained that the older kids were having a war and shooting monsters. Sweet little Stevie started to cry, and when I asked him why, he murmured,

"Cause don't ‘dem monsters get to live too?" I only laughed, and I, a monster in my own way, carried the sniffling boy up stairs.

Kyle had called me the night before to tell me that he was coming by to pick me up tonight and we were gonna go to some or another party at Yvonne's house. She was the nicest lady. It wasn't her fault she was French. That's what Vincent had told me, anyway. So I figured before Kyle showed that I should go outside and finish up the gardening. I was out there pulling weeds when I heard a voice behind me.

"Excuse me, little girl, can you tell me where I can find a women by the name of Pu-jin Yi?"

I blinked. I didn't know the name, of course; better not to remember scary things. This man, I didn't like him. He was a short guy, kinda all like Asian and stuff, and was warring the biggest boots…just like the boots the men in Germany wore. I shook it off, trying to pay attention to the little man before me.

I told him I didn't know who he was talking about, which, of course, seemed to piss him off big time. His words were slow and forced as if he was constantly on the edge of frenzy. Here was a guy who could ride the wave.

He described who he was looking for, and to my utter terror, he described Eternus. Now, I'm not stupid, and I'm not as oblivious as everyone thinks I am. I knew who this guy was now, Wen Fu, the man who had hurt Eternus; the guy who had killed her little girl. I felt the Beast rise up in me, and it screamed for the blood of one who would kill children. However, I, myself, was far to petrified to act. I backed away from him and did the only thing I could think of. I lied to him.

He knew it too, and as his voice rose to painful staccato he screamed to me that he could tell I was lying. Then it happened.

White light flashed inside my skull as his fist slammed my head back into wall behind me, and for a brief horrifying moment, the music stopped. I dropped. As I blinked, spots the shape of children flashed before my eyes. I squirmed away from him, but it was already to late.

He kicked me first off, beating me hard. Then, as I lost clear sight of hisbody, he smashed his foot down hard and I heard the sickening crack as my pelvic bone shattered into a thousand pieces. Then, for a moment, Wen Fu ceased to be above me. Instead, it was a women with long blonde hair. She had a wicked look in her eyes, and I wasn't in the back yard. I was in a city, a burning city.

Then I no longer felt Wen Fu, I no longer felt anything…I wasn't in my body. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but it wasn't me being crazy. I felt as if there was someone pulling me out of my body so that I didn't have to feel it.

My only thought was, that somewhere, my Angel, my Catherine, was watching over me. But then, I heard in the very distance a voice shout "Josie!"

Wen Fu was off me suddenly, and I was in my body again. Numb…numb like I was in that burning city. I could only watch helplessly as Kyle, handsome Kyle, appeared out of nowhere and approached Wen Fu. Screaming for him to run, to get away, I sang songs of warning, but couldn’t sing loud enough and realized Wen Fu must have broken my neck as well.

I only watched, praying to Whom Ever that Kyle not be hurt. To my shock, my amazement, Kyle grew the Claws I’d seen only Eternus use before. With blinding speed, Kyle lunged forward at Wen Fu, and slashed a mighty chunk of white and red flesh from the side of the little man. Wen Fu shrieked, and was gone, as if he’d never been there at all.

Kyle slowly leaned over me. "Josie, Josie, can you hear me?"

I could of course, but again, only silence fell from my slowly moving lips. Gently, he lifted up my broken body. As he carried me to a car next door I glanced by way of the back door into the orphanage. Nancy, sweet, human, Nancy, stood there, palms against the glass door and skin whiter then my own. How much had she seen? Now, though, I couldn’t think about it.

I was now aware, though vaguely, of blood in my mouth. The warmth of vitae, the sweetest I’d ever tasted, against my tongue. Kyle’s. I swallowed willing and wondered if what Vincent had said was true. I wondered if his blood could really control me, and then, I realized I didn’t care. No blood could ever changed the way I felt about Kyle, whatever that was.

As Kyle drove down the street(in a car stolen from next door), I watched the street lights strobe across the hood. Soon I realized we were near the house in which Yvonne and William had gotten married. See, no one knows this, but I watched it all happen from the front yard. I just kept clear ‘cause that’s what Vincent told me to do.

Kyle hoped out of the car and before I could turn my head to follow his movements, he was pulling open the door by me. There was such urgency to his actions, and I just wish I could have told him how little pain I was actually in. He was on the front lawn in no time, and Larcen, poor confused Larcen, was before Kyle in an instant.

"Here," he demanded, and without another word, Kyle passed me to Larcen. He whispered soft words to me, words I’m sure he thought I couldn’t hear. But those, of course, are personal and have no place here.

By the time we were around the side of the house, Pierce was before me. He motioned out his hands, and Larcen passed me once again. I would liked to have been able to tell them that I was all right. I just, just couldn’t. I wanted to know where Vincent was, the only man I did not see.

They put me down on what must have been one of the hardest benches in the free world, and it seemed like the entire vampiric population of Swarthmore was crowded around me. That included the new Prince, Lord Brendon. Malkavian Prince…

Everyone was asking everyone else what happened. No one asked me. Then, I heard Eternus’ little voice across the din.

"Sao Kan..... I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I should never have let this happen."

I didn’t understand. Who was she talking to? Her voice was strange, as if it were from another place. But I had to ignore her for Jack(wonderful) Lupus leaned over me. Jack said something in some language I couldn’t understand and I felt my bones settle back in place. Odd. Very odd. However, The light my body emitted for a time, was such a pretty soothing blue, that I was not afraid.

I was in control of my form again and I sat up. I looked around. "Where is Vincent?" I asked, no one answered me.

They asked me, now, what had happened. I explained simply, Wen Fu and come. Eternus had been right. She turned white and backed away, I didn’t understand. Isn’t it a good thing when you’re right? The crowd around me was parting and I looked around again. Vincent sat in the distance, allowing the shadows of the night to fall across his body, obscuring him.

As I watched Vincent, Eternus seemed to better come to herself. I told her the only thing I could; I told her I was all right, that I wasn’t hurt. She only looked at me oddly. "I know," she said. "That’s what worries me."

I had to go to him ‘cause I know I’m safe around him. Pushing away from most, I knelt down in front of Vincent’s chair. "What happened, child?" His slow cool voice was always so soothing. I told him it didn’t matter and he asked no more of it. Then, looking up at him, "Vincent, why does my chest hurt?" His ancient voice chuckled.

"When does it hurt, child?" I had to think, had to concentrate whenever he spoke. He spoke like music and that always clouded my mind.

"When I’m around Kyle, but you too, and before, before the other day, when Catherine hugged me, my chest, it hurt real bad." I watched him as his eyes, if not his lips, smiled at me.

"It’s because you like them."

I didn’t understand, of course I liked them, I liked most people in this city. They were all very nice and I told Vincent so. He slowly shook his head.

"Little innocent one." He said that so often to me. I sat there for a time as he stroked me hair. I was right, when I was with him, I felt much safer.

"What are you going to do now, Vinny?" The changing of a prince from the other day was a tough thing for him. He was, after all, Lasombra first and foremost. I didn’t want to see Lord Brendon hurt.

Vincent only smiled and pat me on the head. "I’m going to help our good Prince," but he’d say no more of it.

I left Vincent there, he was getting dark and I didn’t like being around him when he was being dark. I wondered through the like HUGE yard. It’s so weird how rich Ventrue are, not at all like the punk Ventrue I used to know.

I found myself near Catherine again, and she smiled at me in the way she always did. My chest hurt, but it happened so often now that I could just ignore it.

"Josie...I wanted to ask you something..." My gosh, her voice, always like a song. "I heard this word in Pierce’s head the other day when I drew faith from him, and I was wondering if you knew what the word meant." She looked around and lowered her voice. "Orgasm. See, I think he’s afraid of it, but I’m not sure why."

I shook my head, never having heard it before. "Well, did you ask Eternus? She knows a lot."

"Yeah, but she said her English wasn’t quite good enough to recognize little sayings and stuff." I shrugged and looked around, then spotted the Prince.

"We’ll go ask Lord Brendon, he knows a lot of things."

So, the two of his went over to him and smiled politely as he was speaking with Vincent and Pierce about something or another. It was odd, when we asked him, the crowd parted; it was if I had said some really bad word like f... errr, never mind. Lord Brendon only laughed at me and asked where I’d heard that word from. Smiling, I told him Catherine had asked me.

The party was in an uproar now, and everyone was off chuckling. I didn’t get it, and looked to Lord Brandon. He said he wasn’t quite sure, so I should go ask Yvonne. Shrugging, I turned to Catherine. We skipped to Yvonne who was standing there with her hubby... I mean William Blair.

"Yvonne, we were wondering, do you know what orgasm means?" She started laughing heartily.

"Vell, you zee Josi, ven a man an’ a voman," but before she could, William pulled her away and whispered to her.

"What are you telling them dear?" She only laughed and I swear, he waltzed her away.

I looked to Catherine and shrugged. She smiled benevolently (see, that’s how Vincent described it), so I looked about and saw Eternus. She looked, well, concerned, but then, she usually did. The woman moved to us and sighed.

"Well," I wonder why everyone starts out this explanation with ‘well’? "You know how the Tremere have those rituals?" I nodded, sure, like Will’o’the Wisp, really pretty. "Well, mortals do too. On a wedding night, a man and a women go through a kind of ritual. I-it helps them with magic so soon the woman will have a baby."

I jumped in. "And that’s an orgasm?"

Eternus sighed again. "Not exactly... and or-orgasm...it’s, well, a side affect of it." She looked really flustered.

"Oh! I get it!" I smiled and she looked relived. So, me, being one who loves to learn, went to find Lady Meredith, the Tremere. She was hanging out near the side of the house.

"Lady Meredith... Eternus explained it all... An orgasm is a Tremere ritual that people do on their wedding night... can you do that ritual?"

Now I might explain, Lady Meredith is like a piccolo, she’s sweet and up-key and just basically nice. She smiled at me, again, it was like she knew a joke I didn’t. "No dear... it’s not a ritual per se. You don’t need to be married."

I smiled, that was, after all, wonderful news; I knew I couldn’t get married. "So, can you give me an orgasm?"

She blanched for a moment and Larcen came behind me before I could say anything else. He pulled me aside.

"What are you talking about?" His heavy voice had a touch of laughter and, at the same time, a touch of something else, something unreadable.

" ‘Turnus said that an orgasm was a Tremere ritual that happened on a wedding night!" I was frustrated now, I didn’t get it.

"No, no kid... it’s not like that at all. It’s no ritual. See, when someone has goodsex, that when it..." and he looked away and yelled, "Eternus! What did you tell this kid?" Eternus shook her head in frustration.

"You, you just don’t talk about things like this... Great Dragon, if you did, Third Aunt would beat you."

I didn’t understand, I was just asking a simple question, but no one could give me a simple answer.

I looked to Larcen. "Well, then can you give me goodsex?" I swear to you, I swear he blushed a bit!

"I well... I... well..." He stuttered on like that for a second, then Kyle popped up and pulled Larcen aside to talk with him.

"Are you, that is, are you two gonna have goodsex?" I frowned, not sure what it meant. Kyle just looked over at me and gave me that smile...God, that smile killed me. I didn’t hear what he said, still to dazzled by his face.

I went back around, watching the people giggle and laugh. There it was again, that joke I wasn’t in on! Yeah, so I thought it less painful to maybe play my hand at something else. So, I looked for Vincent. He was with those girls...

I didn’t like those girls one bit. They had been with the Demon, I’d seen them and I know from demons. Once you’re alone with a Demon, you’re never the same. Vincent spent all his time with those girls now and I felt, well, I don’t know what I felt. So, I thought better then to go to Vinny. I mucked about for a while, killing time, then Pierce pulled me aside.

"Hey, Josie. I wanted to talk to you. How are you doing anyway?" I told him that I was okay and he nodded. "See, Josie, I know you’re the closest to Vincent in the city, and I was wondering what you could tell me about him."

"I dunno. He’s old if that’s what you mean, and he knows like EVERYTHING! Besides that, I don’t know."

"Do you know what his plans are for he city?" Now I state here again, I’m not stupid. I knew what Pierce meant. He wanted to know if Vincent was dangerous, and I’m far to loyal to say that. So, I played it carefully.

"I know, Pierce, that Vincent has nothing but love for Swarthmore. He wants to see what’s best for her." Didn’t matter that it was the truth, I felt as though I was lying. "He has plans, big plans, and hopes someday that instead of single party rule... how did he put it... ‘A panel of our city’s wisest may sit and decide by democracy’."

Tired, I watched the Brujah lighten at this. "I think, you’re a part of his plan, you should talk to him!" I knew I’d feed Pierce what he needed, I just didn’t know why I’d done it.

I left the area kinda sick of myself. Eternus watched me walk, and stared at me with longing eyes. She moved to me as if without free will. I was scared for her.

"Josie, I... I just wanted you to know, I may have to leave the city soon." Her blood ripped through my veins, sang its voice hot in my face.

"No!"

"I’m sorry my child, I cannot stay here, my life is in danger. It’s just, Vincent..." and she paused in her tracks, realizing what she was saying, but it was too late. I couldn’t stand it, I stormed over to him.

"How could you?!? Don’t take Eternus away from me! Don’t kill her!" I almost slapped him.

Coolly, he looked up from his ghouls, trash. "Did she Blood Bond you?" I only nodded, too angry that I might hit him. "I will not stand for any one controlling you like that. I’ve promised to kill her should I see her doing anything further."

Then I realized how funny that was; he was controlling me, so that I might not be controlled. Oh, what a game he played! "If you ever," and I didn’t have to say any more, I simply walked away. Then I realized I’d lost him. I was really without him.

I went to sit, to be by myself, yet my loyalty kept me close to Vincent, painfully close. That’s when I noted how much time he and Pierce and Lord Brendon were spending together. It made me ill. I didn’t want this changed Vincent to get what he wanted he just wasn’t acting like himself.

I was standing by the side of the house when Kyle came up. His eyes, those eyes, staring off at nothing. He was in pain, such pain, something I’d never seen in him before.

"Josie, do you know what it’s like to never be accepted? No matter where I go, they all look down on me. I have no family." I asked him about DX. "That’s not blood, it’s not the same." It flashed for a moment in my mind; I stood in a warehouse, a goblet of blood in my hand, the feeling of family in my blood. I shook it off, it was unhealthy.

He told me then how lonely he truly was, how much he longed for a real clan to call his own. I asked him if he’d ever looked for his sire, but he said it didn’t work that way. Kyle said he was leaving Swarthmore, that things were getting to strange. No, he couldn’t... I asked him once softly, not to go, and he looked at me. Softly, I fell into his eyes, his song beating to me through the near silent night. We talked like that for what seemed like hours, and I felt like I was forever falling.

We walked slowly towards the back to see what was going on. Vincent and Lord Brendon and Pierce were all standing above us, and they were calling all the Kindred of the city together. Lord Brendon spoke first.

"Good people, I have an announcement to make. For the good of the city, for the good of all of us, I would like to announce to you your new city government. There will forthwith be a Tribunal of myself, Sir Vincent and Lord Pierce. As the oldest and wisest amongst you, we hope to lead Swarthmore well."

Panic. The Sabbat. They would come and kill us all. They’d find out. They’d hear about Vincent and kill us all. I freaked out, what more can I say? I backed away from them all in horror, and noted three others backing off, though in disgust, not horror.

At the side of the house they stood, Larcen, Kyle and William Blair. They shook their heads. They talked politics. I couldn’t understand them, the music was too loud.

I wanted to run... had to. Fight or flight, and you can’t fight the Sabbat. Then the children came to my mind, Little Stevie. Damn, this was gonna be confusing. The three with me came to some kind of decision and I knew, as if by fate, that Vincent wouldn’t last long now. I closed my eyes was embraced by the vision of Vincent walking down a burnt road. He couldn’t turn around for me. He never looked back. I just didn’t want him to die.

I was alone again when the party erupted. Archie had shown up again, and he was somewhere amongst us. Kyle ushered me away, somewhere safe, or so he thought.

I was alone with Catherine, but she wasn’t glowing any more. She was sad, and so broken-looking that I could have died looking at her.

"Josie, what, what if I don’t win. I don’t know if I’m strong enough yet." Ice grabbed my chest and twisted, and I felt as if I were numbly drowning.

"Don’t talk like that! We have to win, we’re the good guys!" She was scaring me, but I had to be strong.

"I don’t know, I just, he’s so strong and so..."

I cut her off, breathless. "No! You can’t talk like that, your our only hope! Without you, we’ll all, we’ll all..." I couldn’t finish. I didn’t wanna burn in Hell or whatever. If Catherine was a vampire and now, now and Angel, couldn’t we all be that way too?

I felt her hooded eyes on me. "What if I lose faith in myself?"

"It doesn’t matter, because I will always have faith in you." To be true, when I said the words, I meant them, but as Catherine walked away from me, head bowed, shoulders sloped, I lost faith in life. Again, I could have died right there.

It was when I was sitting alone in the dark gazebo when it all hit me. The Music, my Music, it was near silent. Every thing was coming to an end. Vincent would die, Kyle and Eternus would leave, Catherine... well, who knows what happens when an Angel loses faith. I started to laugh, I don’t know why. What’s the word they use? Lunacy? That’s what it felt like.

Without the Music to calm me, I could only laugh. Everything was coming to an end and Archie would get us all. Though still, I knew I had to go down fighting. Music had driven him away before, maybe my song could kill him. I had to try, to prove to Catherine that we could still win.

I moved into the house, heedless of the voices of warning behind me. The Music near silent. "Archie!" I cried, my voice without melody. "Archie! Come out, come out where ever you are! Come and get me Archie, come and get it!"

I paused. I waited. There was nothing. Nothing in the house but silence, horrible silence and somewhere in the distance the Music playing with me, teasing me with it’s ethereal piano (that there Italian word for quietly), I put my face in my hands and began to cry; my sobs not even enough to stifle the silence.

Then, there was a hand on my shoulder. I waited to die, but to my shock, it was a friendly hand. I turned, and Kyle stood before me. He wiped away my tears without a word.

"You have to hide, Josie, he’s in the house."

"What about Catherine?" I demanded. He shook his head.

"She has to help us Josie. You of all people should understand that," and he moved me to hide under the piano, turning with Claws drawn.

I was alone again, and as I thought, this it occurred to me. The Music was there once more.

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