Cold Bitches

I was surprised to see the door to the Cave open as I walked down the drive-way of our scaffold covered home. I originally had set out to meet Chip as soon as Rose had sent her that really crappily written text... but something felt off... I could have sworn that I could hear someone was arguing in there?

"Chip... He might be in danger, Maybe Valerica broke in?"

Look at You acting all worried

"Oh just be quiet and stop being such an asshole"

Do You think that If You save Him he'll give You a little dose of Your medicine? it's been a little while since You've fucked, I can practically smell an episode coming

"Oh, I bet You'd love that, pouncing on his beast and fucking him raw, like a little inner-voice slut?"

My instincts paused, I don't think that I had ever spat back at her so fiercely before, at least not in a while.... don't you use my own method against me, that's not fair!

"then shut the fuck up, I need to focus."

I reached into my purse, immediately feeling the cold steel of Black Baby's barrel, it's custom grip fitting perfectly into my hand as I brandished it, ready to take shots if need "Damn... I wish I had dad's sword." I thought, moving in a crouched dog trot over to the edge of the doorway.

Listening carefully I could hear a familiar voice speaking in a very sarcastic tone "The Visage Ritual, when is it, come on tell me, tell me, I promise I'm good with secrets!?"

"Huginn?" I remembered the goofy Vampire from before... though it was not his twin sister that answered

"Do not test me, Vampire, or You will regret it." Diana knew Rose's voice anywhere, it seemed to me like nothing was wrong and so I relaxed... until I heard something moving behind me.

With swiftness and speed that I still didn't quite understand, My body spun around, the barrel of Black Baby pointing right at the forehead of a gangling figure, not hesitating for even a minute to fire a blinding shot right into its forehead... I was scared, and the weight of the coming episode had shaken me... I really didn't mean to do it, but I was thankful that it was a Vampire that I shot at.

Muninn's twisted body fell dead on the ground, thumping heavily, a smoking bullet hole in her forehead "SHIT!" I cried, crouching beside the blonde woman and moving entirely out of Instinct which in accordance with my growing arousal was thankfully sharp.

Reaching into My bag, I fiddled through the vials that I had filled the night before, they were untested and I was not entirely sure if this brew would work on her, or even if I had remembered Rose's directions correctly, but I uncorked the Vial of magenta liquid, pouring it between Muninn's horror-stricken lips with shaking hands

"Come on, Come on, Come on." I whispered, rubbing her throat and checking the wound. Luckily the bullet passed right through.

"Wow... You shot her?" a jolt came over me as Rose appeared next to me, taking the empty Vial I had taken and inspecting it "Regeneration Drapht?" She said, holding it up to sniff at it tentatively "You brewed this on Your own? impressive." Rose said, cracking a smile at me.

I, however, was in too much of a quiet panic to do anything but ask "I-I didn't mean to shoot her, she crept up on me... w-will it work?" Rose shrugged at me, her cold expression never changing

"We will just have to wait and see."

"I'm gonna guess that gunshot was not goooooooooooo......." Huginn's voice trailed off as He emerged to see his sister, all twisted up with a gunshot wound between her eyes "What the fuck?" He Whispered, moving next to his sister, looking at the gun in my hand "Hey... Charlie's sister... um, did You... shoot my sister, in the head?" He asked rather nonchalantly, I frowned

"I didn't mean too, Huginn She just-"

"WOW WEE!" Like springing out of a cat-flap the receptionist Girl, Namina a recalled her name was, jumped out, looking at Muninn's limp form on the ground with intrigue "Sweet golly gosh damn, You shot her right between the fucking eyes!" She said, taking my hand and shaking it profusely, the crushing **** of her strength making me wince slightly "I never knew a Human who could actually pull off a point-blank shot like that! Of course, You are Charlie's sister, You were bound to be impressive but wow!"

I tucked Black Baby back into My purse, frowning at the Mahogany haired Vampire "I... I'm not just human, and it looks like something really fucked her up before." I said, whispering the first part and making Namina raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah... I may or may not have broken her spine, it's a long story. She may be out of commission for a couple of days, luckily the bullet passed through, the migraines those fucking things give, unbelievable. seriously though this regeneration could take a while." Huginn said gravely, wiping up a droplet of black blood that fell from the wound.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Rose interrupted, all of them looking on with wonder as the bullet hole began to slowly close, the flesh fusing back together as Her stormy grey eyes flew open.

"Hey sleepyhead, are You alright?" Namina asked as Muninn stared directly up into the stary sky blankly

"ffff....ffff....ffff....sssss..... fuck." Muninn whispered, her eyes crossing as she blinked strangely "eugh... w-wha... where... am I?" She whispered in a gargling voice like her brain was still fixing itself

"Oh wow, that was fast. Come on Moonie, let's lay You down." Huginn said, helping his sister up with Namina's assistance. The Blonde's back suddenly cracked into place making her lurch strangely

"Hughie... I'm going... to fucking kill You." She whispered as they all helped in carrying her through the door. Huginn leaned in,

whispering to me "I don't suppose I could hire You to shoot her again could I?"

I had taken it upon myself to go to the kitchen to procure a cup, also pulling free one of the shiny kitchen knives from the block... I had done this before, for Charlie on our date, it seemed only right to spare a little for Muninn as an apology "You intend to draw blood for her?" I jolted again, turning to see Rose in the doorway

"Jesus Christ, woman, can You stop the batman routine." I said, Rose merely tilted her head "Right... You don't know who batman is... Yes, I shot her in the head, it's the least I could do." Rose shrugged, fixing me with an indifferent eye

"It's not fatal, she'll live, so to speak. Your blood is valuable, living Homunculus blood with Your level of potency shouldn't be squandered on a mere Vampire." I looked at Rose, seeing that true lack of care in her eyes. Chip had told me how cold Rose could be... but it was like she didn't care for Vampires at all.

"Listen, I know about being a cold bitch, I am practically Wallace's cold bitch mascot, but just because She's Vampire doesn't mean that You shouldn't care.

As Your friend, Your only friend, I should warn You, being a heartless harpy doesn't always get You very far, as I'm sure You know." I wasn't sure how she'd take that, Rose wasn't accustomed to being told off, but to my pleasant surprise, she smiled

"Maybe You are right, maybe I do act like a cold bitch too often... but if my memory serves correctly, Bruce Wayne puts forth his persona when not fighting crime, then regresses to his true self when the time is right, I was raised to see Vampire's as below me, that persona I put forward probably isn't the right one true, but it is the way that I am, all I can say is I'll work on it, in the meantime, you go ahead and give that blood."

Staring with my mouth open slightly, Rose's smile deepened, her mane of red hair swaying as she turned "What? You don't think Charlie and I curl up and watch a movie every so often? come on." Rose said with a smile, I made another mental note to never underestimate her.

Walking into the Lounge, I saw Muninn laying on the couch, her head resting on her brother's lap as she clutched it like she had the worst migraine "Hey." I said, stepping forward. Muninn turned her Stormy grey eyes to me, not even a lick of hate in them, much to my surprise

"That... was a very... impressive, shot." She muttered, trying what I thought might be a smile, but came off more like a chimpanzee bearing its teeth. I came and crouched by her, doing my best to convey my guilt

"I would prefer to show my marksman skills in a less hostile fashion in future," I said, she eyed the knife and cup in my hands, it obviously took her a moment to compute with her head damage but she eventually sat up, looking at me seriously

"That... that isn't necessary... I-" I had made the incision before she had finished her sentence, ignoring the pain as my scarlet blood ran into the clear glass

"What is it with You Drakes, so fucking hardcore!" Huginn said as they all stared hungrily at the glass, some clearly possessing more self-control than the others

"Is it just me... or does her blood smell really, really good," Namina asked though she was quickly silenced by Rose's threatening stare, knowing that she had my back was reassuring beyond words.

"Pretty... ballsy... that must have hurt." Muninn muttered, though like Huginn and Namina... they looked in awe as the wound on my hand promptly closed in an embering flash of crimson light, I smiled pridefully

"That is never gonna get old."

"By the blood god." Huginn said with a smile "I... I thought that regeneration that I saw at the hotel Battle was just a short term spell or something, just what are You really?" He was clearly lost in wonder, though Muninn didn't hesitate to slap Huginn hard across the face "Ow!"

"Oh... shut up... You broke my back. Stop being so rude, whatever her abilities are they aren't Your business." She spat, Huginn folded his arms childishly, but his sister flashed me something that actually resembled a smile this time

"Thank You. nothing cure's scrambled brains like a little heart juice." She said groggily, taking the glass that I handed her and downing the entire thing in one gulp, Her eyes flashing crimson as a deep sigh of relief left her lips "Holy shit I didn't think I could wait another minute." She mumbled before gritting her teeth, the beautiful blonde's bones clicking and popping, her deep growl of satisfaction as a little more colour flooded into her face, a little more determination in her eyes and a fully recognizable and warm smile arching across her pretty face.

"Better?" Muninn grinned at me, patting me carefully on the shoulder

"Are you kidding, I feel great! good thinking on the Regeneration Draught, and of course the blood was amazing, You're way nicer than Charlie makes you out to be." She said, frowning as soon as she realised what she said "Okay... I didn't mean to say that..." we all raised an eyebrow, but she pushed it aside, staring angrily at Huginn instead "So, I see that You didn't manage to find charlie."

"I will, He's going to summon us soon, for the Visage Ritual no less!" He grinned, Muninn's eyes brightening a little

"The Visage Ritual, really? that's excellent, the Clan members will love that! and I can use the opportunity to get closer to Charlie-what the fuuuuck." Muninn paused, flushing red with what I was sure was my own blood, completely embarrassed by her truthful blunder "I... I did not mean to say that."

"Heyyyy, You must have damaged Your prefrontal cortex..." Namina said rather intelligently "Maybe You have lost Your capacity to contain the truth." everyone stared at her with surprise, Namina folded her arms "What!? just because I'm a receptionist doesn't mean I'm an idiot. You know how bad being shot in the head is for You, even for us"

"That's true... hey at least the bullet went straight through me, the Migraines those fucking bullets give man, killer. I'll... just have to not talk so much I guess, imagine if I told people how I cry to the thought of misleading charlie back in Mortemous-FUCK!" Muninn cried, walking off quickly while covering her face with her hands as Huginn burst out in laughter, actual tears forming in his eyes

"Priceless!" He said pointing and laughing as Muninn ducked into the kitchen.

After waiting a whole five minutes for Huginn to stop laughing, Rose called us all together in the lounge again, Muninn pouting in very prominent silence as the Inquisitor demanded their attention with a click of her fingers

"Charlie has asked me to inform You that He will be summoning You all for the Visage Ritual in an hour or two. He went ahead with the Cleo woman." Rose said quickly and cleanly, though the other's were clearly dissatisfied with this

"Is that it?" Namina asked, leaning forward "Surely he'd give us more information than that?"

"That's what I said!" Huginn interjected, "Since when was Charlie the planning devious type?" Rose frowned with annoyance, I could tell she didn't have the patience... so I interjected

"Since when was it Your business to know Your lord's plans?" I couldn't help it, it was like that cold bitch syndrome had come into full effect

"Well..." Huginn said, clearly surprised at my interjection "Well, I just thought that he would trust-"

"Oh don't start talking about trust my dear, I heard about what you people did, on that old man's commands or not, You can hardly expect him to just start telling You everything now can he?" I said sharply, Namina's face falling slightly as she retorted

"but... it's not entirely like we had a choice, He was out master, we were just obeying-"

"I'm sorry, hold on for a moment, let me add 'Immortal Vampires' to my pussy-bitch note pad. You don't cry Yourself to sleep like Muninn does if you are just dogging on a leash, I see guilty people at work every day, and I know for a fact that You were not powerless, My brother wouldn't be so cautious otherwise." the Three Vampires did not meet eyes with me, looking immediately like that had their hands in the cookie jar

"I was afraid. we were all afraid... You don't know what Corvus did to some of us, You would have stayed silent too." Muninn looked to Huginn furtively for a moment, I sighed, nodding gently

"Maybe, but... as much as I hate to say aloud, You need to put Your faith in him, from what I understand, He's gonna have to depend on you. I like You guys, but as long as I breathe, nothing is stabbing him in the back without going through me first. understand?" It was strange how that Lover/Sister defence kicks in simultaneously, I just hoped that they wouldn't tell him I said that.

They all nodded, but Muninn smiled "He has our faith, I promise. Right Huginn?" Her brother nodded in agreement

"Sure thing, he's alright, for a Youngblood." He flinched as Muninn raised her hand "ah, okay okay, Charlie's great, awesome guy! 100% faith... just one thing?" He asked all of them looking at him "Are You telling me, that He went to go and see Vulcan, with just Cleo?" Namina and Muninn's faces all dropped in realisation, speaking in unison one solid fact

"He's fucked."