Halcyon Halls

Books. Superglue. Broken book cases. Candybars? Tape gunk. Water. Gum. Candy wrappers. Used condoms. More water. Icy Hot. Police tape. Goat excrement. Goat excrement?

This week's messes, though odd, were not really all that different from any other week. It was an imaginative group after all. After April Fools Day Janos was almost disappointed in the relatively tame messes that were left behind. Made him wonder what he was going to find later on. Something hidden away to fester and rot until the smell was everywhere.

This of course was all a distraction from his real worries. Shallow things to keep distracted from real concerns.

Off and on, hot and cold, in and out, round and round. Rose's mood was as erratic as the weather. Janos never knew which he was going to get and when it was dark, he was, quite frankly, wary of opening his mouth. It didn't matter what he said, it was going to be the wrong thing.

Dear Rose, Upton is not your father. Oh no, your father is much more evil, much more vile and deadly man that makes Upton seem about as deadly as a chihuahua. Ever heard of a demon named Sergio? Well he's heard of you... and now he knows the secret I've managed to keep safe from him for twenty years. So long, Rose. Been nice knowing you. Too bad the rest of your very short life is going to be even more of a miserable hell.

And THAT would be why Janos was so secretive. A truth he had managed for most of her life to not even think about, lest her secret be smelled. Even when she knew the truth she wasn’t going to be happy he kept it.

Was he so wrong in wanting to buy her a bit of time?

Who: Beauty and the Beast Anastasiya and Sergius
When: Early Tuesday morning, hours before the dawn
Where: The Black Forest, just outside Freiburg, Germany, One of Sergio's many places

Months of debate, and yet Anastasiya knew there was no other choice. Sergio already had shown his displeasure, his knowledge that his game no longer interested her. Not that she had fully played it before, but where she once allowed this or that, or even facilitated it for her own benefit, Asya no longer wished to play. Nor did she wish to keep a blind eye. In short, she wanted nothing to do with any of it, and that was what she wished to tell the millenia old demon.

And she would too. If...

If she were the only one she had to think of. Of course, if she was the only one she had to think of it was doubtful she'd be second guessing any of it ever. Much had changed within that dark heart, no matter how the vampiress often missed it or denied that truth. So much that she simply could not understand.

Like Diarmad's reaction to her command. Sure he should be grateful to have her out of his hair for a few days. But hadn't Asya put him in such a position that her well being would matter so completely to him? Her death after all, would mean his own.

Of course, there was more to it. Yes, deep down she knew. Deserved or not, as she knew it was not, and had no understanding of why, or how. Deep down she knew there was cause not at all selfish, for the concern in his words, and in his voice. Couldn't he see how it killed her to deny him in this? The fear she felt in facing Sergio alone caused her to stumble nearly every step of the way. The fear she felt in making a deal of any sort... not to mention the assault on her very pride. Asya knelt for no one, she bowed down to no one, she made deals with no one...

And here she was, hands clasped nervously behind her as she paced, waiting, waiting, waiting... for an audience, with a man whom she knew could, and would, kill her so much as think about her. Perhaps his patience would hold up longer than her own. She could only hope. For Diarmad's benefit.