Adrian Moss World of Darkness: Attrition - The Order (Part 4) [FIN]

[Adrian Moss]

Thomas, Initiate of the Void, welcomed Adrian back into his study in the usual manner. He ignored him until he finished with whatever he was doing, which took about ten minutes, then acknowledged the Slave's presence.

"Master," Adrian said quietly.

"Things did not go well up North?" he enquired.

"I think my Master already knows the answer to that," the slave said in the previous tone of voice.

"When I ask a question, I expect an answer," a taint of impatience in his voice.

"Okay then," Adrian said with some anger. "I learned about blood and our tie to it, how it enslaves our hunger and pushes us toward frenzy. I learned a whole lot about that."

Adrian hesitated. If alive, he would have drawn in a deep breath before plowing on.

"I also learned that Mistress Tabitha is an EVIL bitch!"

Thomas raised an eyebrow.

'Oh crap.'

" ... evil bitch, Master."

Thomas seemed mollified by Adrian's appendage. He looked down to his desk and picked up a folded piece of paper.

"Do you care to know what she thinks of you?"

'Actually, I don't give a rat's ass what she says about me.'

"I imagine my Master will enlighten me," he choked out.

Thomas read over the page, refreshing it in his memory.

"Here it is ... 'Adrian shows great promise. He is instinctually drawn toward a respect for blood and the hold it has on it. I feel my time with him has not been wasted."

Adrian looked stunned.

'What kind of carnival do I live in? I mean, she's frikken nuts.'

"Aahh ... thanks ... I mean, tell Mistress Tabitha she has my thanks ..."

Thomas was waiting for something more, though Adrian couldn't fathom what it was.

"... and that I did learn something, though it wasn't the lesson I thought was being taught to me."

Thomas nodded, but remained fixtated on Adrian for more. Adrian couldn't hold back his emotions any more.

"But why did she have Gwen killed then?" he blurted out, his voice filled in equal measure with anger, guilt, and grief.

Thomas' eyebrow arched ever so slightly.

"I was not aware of this."

"Of course," he continued, "you were still under her tutelage, so she needant have informed me of any such decision. Killing your ghoul was clearly within her rights." With a clear warning in his voice, Thomas added, "It is best to let this matter drop."

Adrian's mind was already racing ahead of his surroundings, so he barely heard his Master's warning.

'If the Ordo in LA didn't have a hand in killing Gwen, then who did Tabitha use? Am I so useless that anyone could do this ... or would it be that someone had it out for me ... or for her?'

Thomas cleared his throat.

"My next assignment is for you to catalog all of Gwen's possessions and determine their significance to you, or someone else she cared about. Don't waste this ... opportunity," he said with the slightest hint of something resembling compassion," and let this mean nothing save a wound to your soul. Evolve, Adrian. Grow from this."

Adrian shook now. He felt the darkest, bitterest kind of humor.

"Master, they took all of her possessions. It is like they tried to kill my memory of her."

Thomas seemed perplexed for an instance. "Keep a journal. Record how you feel and how your life has been impacted by her absence. Leave nothing out. I look forward to reviewing it."

Most likely, Thomas meant this as a kindness, as something to keep his mind away from his fettered emotions. To Adrian, if was like someone sticking the knife back in once more.

Adrian bowed. "Yes Master." He hesitated. "Is there anything else?"

"Not for the rest of the week, Slave. Come back on Monday at the regular time."

Adrian bowed again, back away one step, turned and left. He was sorely tempted to slam the door on his way out. It would have been childish, pointless, and uncalled for. Thomas wasn't the enemy. Thomas was giving him a chance and throwing that in his face was dickless and stupid. Instead, he left in the usual quiet manner.

On the way home, his phone rang.

"Hello Adrian." It was Virginia. "I just heard. I'm so sorry. We need to talk."

It wasn't as if Adrian need more conflict rolling through his mind, but Virginia knew how to stoke uncertainties.

'Besides, she is one of the few of us who knew about Gwen ... '

"I'll be right over."

[Adrian Moss]

Virginia was maddeningly precise. She took her time about everything. She was always thoughtful and correct in the course of action she decided on. In essence, she was the anti-Adrian. She was really driving him nuts right now, too. Adrian wanted to talk. To be honest, Adrian wanted to blurt out his suspicions (incredibly groundless as they were) and dig to the heart of the matter - that is, who killed Gwen.

Instead, he sat there waiting for her to make him some tea. With exaggerated caution, she poured him a cup.

"Honey, perhaps? Any sugar? Maybe some cream then?"

To each offer Adrian just shook his head.

Now, it might seem strange to think one vampire would offer another vampire tea in their domicile. I mean, it wasn't like either one could drink it without quickly throwing it back up. Why then? The smell. The warmth of the cup. The liquid itself could invoke memories.

In Adrian's experience, way too many vamps pined and whined about the misery of their nightly existence. They missed the Sun's sweet caress (not the words he would have chosen - he referred to the Sun as That Evil Eye, or the Wheel in the Sky) , the sound of the gulls over the beach of at midday (winged vermin? They missed winged vermin?), and the gorgeous sunsets that blessed the Golden Coast.

To this Vampire, missing the Sun was like missing an enema from a steel-bristle brush ... covered in salt. The Sun hated vamps and vamps would be smart to hate it right back. Now, what Adrian did miss was Coke. That bubbling, rasping sensation of that dark liquid going down his throat and plunging into the stomach, not that powdery stuff. Pepperoni pizza. Seeing a pretty girl pass by and getting a hard on. Now when he thought 'Man, she looks healthy', he wasn't thinking about her breast size. He was listening to her heart rate. Hell, a sweet juicy cheeseburger with pickles and jalapenos.

'The Sun? Fuck the Sun,' he thought.

"Your tea," Virginia repeated demurely. Adrian snapped out of his revelry and took the heated, dirty water. He gave his hostess a weak smile. They both appeared to take a sip, but they were just wafting in the scents of the tea and the various spices.

'Not half bad.'

As he lowered the cup, Adrian saw Virginia staring at him with those ghostly grey eyes.

'Man, those must have haunted the ever-living shit out of the students at the boarding schools she used to run.'

Not that Adrian knew Virginia's past, but she looked like what his pop culture polluted mind thought a school headmistress was supposed to look like.

"Thanks ... its ... really smelly."

'D'oh! Man, that sounded retarded, lame, and about twenty other fucked-up things I didn't mean to say.'

"I mean, the smell is ... ah ... unique," hoping that would save the day.

Virginia smiled. "I agree," she said as she put down the cup, "it is smelly. I was trying to be more like you and experimenting with things I only have a passing knowledge in."

If Adrian had been drinking tea, he would have spewed.

"Wa-ha? This is a ... this is you ... seriously?"

"Seriously," she said with a hint of anger and menace that Adrian was too dense to notice right away.

"Virginia, when Thomas told you to step out of your comfort zone (Adrian's words, not Thomas'), he meant doing a little more than trying orange slices in your tea."

Virginia noted that Adrian sounded much more exasperated than mocking and dialed herself down a notch. It was sometimes easy to forget that this intriguing boy was essentially ... a ... teenager. In Virginia's orderly mind that pegged him just above unwashed hippies and people who smoked cigarettes indoors.

"You have to step out. I would add 'some more' but you rarely leave the house to do anything more than go to Thomas'. Come on now. You feed off of male escorts, that runaway you have tied up down stairs, and the occasional late night Jehovah's Witness that comes to your door."

"Come out," he continued. "You live like a monk ... or a female monk, whatever ..."

"They are called nuns, Adrian," she interjected.

"Nuns. Thanks. Where was I?"

"I am living like a nun," she prodded.

"Oh, yeah. You have to get out and socialize. You need to know people, both like us and the normal, run of the mill folk-type people."

It was hard for Virginia to listen to Adrian butcher the English language, but she endured.

"Virginia, you need to step out and leave this place, or it will ... entomb you. I mean, I had never, ever left Los Angeles, in this life or the last, but I did do it to go up to the ... asylum. You need to push past whatever keeps you here."

He sounded sincere.

"How was the asylum?" she asked. "You haven't mentioned it until now."

"Did you kill Gwen?" Adrian shot back, pretty much out of nowhere. Virginia was actually stunned. She hesitated.

"What will you do if I say I did?"

"I'll kill you."

"Then it's safe for me to say I had nothing to do with Gwen's demise," Virginia concluded.

Adrian slumped in his chair, defeated.

"Tell me what happened Adrian, and leave nothing out. Any detail may be key."

"I've been over all that in my head and I got nothing."

"Adrian, how many times have you proven to me that having a fresh set of eyes on something changes everything? Now, tell me."

So, he told her everything from the last night at the Asylum until he went to see Thomas. In his mind, the key question still remained.

'Who then,' was that question. 'Who else knew? Who else would have what it took to kill Gwen on Tabitha's orders. I was careful damn it.'

As if reading his mind, "Who had motive, means, and opportunity?" Virginia asked smoothly. "Means is rather easy. Gwen was a young ghoul and alone, nor do I believe that she was all that combat-effective."

Adrian confirmed that with a nod.

"So, anyone who could bring three or so people together could do it. Who do you know who has those resources - the kind to gather three killers together."

Adrian didn't answer.

"Opportunity is nearly as easy. You are active. Your absence could only mean you had left the city for a while. So, it would be someone who would note your absence. Is that a long list as well?"

Adrian thought longer on this one. Maybe a dozen names came to mind.

"Motive comes in two steps. First, it had to be someone who Mistress Tabitha knew, or knew of. Secondly, it had to be someone who knew you would eventually find out they were behind this and either be suitable prepared, or be powerful enough not to care. How long is that list now?"

Adrian straightened up in his chair. Only one name remained on that list. Only one. The problem was, how did this tie back to Tabitha.

Virginia looked on as Adrian's face went from fear, to anger, to inquisitive all in rapid succession. Her own mind grappled blindly with the problem Adrian was facing. She simple beat Adrian to the finish line (by a good mile).

"Adrian, is Mistress Tabitha a Mekhet?"

And then it all made sense.

[Adrian Moss]

He sat across the street from Hombly Park. It was a tiny bit of fear, but much more common sense and respect. The park and its environs were her territory and it was never safe to just 'roam around' until she found you. That was a great way to get a new wardrobe, or even a new life. No, Adrian waited. Sarah Dead-Wolf didn't keep a regular schedule, but she could be relied on to patrol the edges of her domain at least every other night. There was also an added incentive to not set her off. He was the bearer of bad news, and it was bad news by way of a favor the Gangrel-Not Gangrel had done for him.

Adrian also knew that Sarah cultivated few contacts out in the greater dross that was vampire society. She had no way of knowing she might be in danger. He owed her that much - a warning.

Beyond that, Adrian had been careful in coming here. It was not generally known that Sarah haunted this part of the city. It wasn't prime hunting turf. It was close to it, but not part of it. Thus, it was something Sarah could safely handle and keep as her own. So, he had parked a dozen blocks away and trekked over under the Cloak of Shadows. There was little chance that one of Blezer's goons, or flunkies, had followed him.

He had parked his ass on the hood of a car too old to have a car alarm. Part of him wanted to think about Gwen. When she had her own place, it was not far from here. The problem was, there was little time for self-pity. There was business to be conducted and he had to keep his act together.

The waiting continued.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

There are times, Sarah pondered as she loped along the southern edge of Holmby Park, where budget shortfalls come in damned handy.

The great city of Los Angeles was tightening its belt these days, and the cuts had started being noticed even in the posh neighborhoods. One of the first serious threats from the budget office was to decrease patrol officers from two to one per car; when the Protective Police League threatened to strike if that happened, the cuts were quietly shifted over to Animal Control.

As a result, calls about roaming cats and dogs - and things that looked close enough to the latter at night - were falling on overworked and understaffed ears. Hunting for one such as Sarah was good, and so was her mood.

That stopped as she caught a certain scent on the evening breeze. Stopping dead in her tracks, the wolf opened her mouth just enough to draw in a bit more of the smell, let it play over her tongue as well as within her sensitive nose. It didn't take long to see the source.

She shook her head, let out a chuff of a sigh, then shifted in that unearthly fashion of her from four legs to two. The familiar denim-clad form stalked over to the unassuming figure sitting on the hood of an old Pontiac, gave him a once-over that more or less felt like she was looking at something left by the side of the road, and sighed again.

"What in hell are you doing here, Adrian? We've had this talk; I don't wanna play with you and your leech buddies."

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian slinked off the hood of the car were he was sitting. He moved across the street, because what he had to say wasn't something you yelled about in a neighborhood like this one. He carefully eyed Sarah, one predator to another. Taking his eyes off her wasn't wise, even if they were ... well, not friends, but acquaintances. Time to get this over with.

"Sarah, Gwen's dead. I went upstate for a few months and when I came back, someone had murdered her. Just murdered her. I could still smell the blood and fear in the place. Anyway, I doubt you care about that, but you might care about this. I think it was Belzer. It's hard to be sure, but it all fits together. Somebody had to be up on my movements, knows about Gwen, and not care enough to hide her death from me."

He paused, having almost run out of words.

"Belzer remembers what you did for me. He knows we've kept our mouths shut about him and ... well, you know who. Now, he doesn't seem to care about that, or he is just tidying up some loose ends. I don't know."

"Well, I thought I owed it to you to give a 'heads-up'."

The Mekhet let out a forced sigh. He didn't breath after all.

"It's nice to see you alive and in one piece. Sorry for ruining your night. If we've not got any other business, I'll be on my way. I know how much you don't like company - my kind of company, anyway."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

The Dead-Wolf stood there, in stony silence, eyes beneath hooded brow locked on Adrian's as the young Mekhet explained the situation. When he was done, the response wasn't immediate; there was a long, long moment when her next action was very much in doubt.

About at the point where Adrian was ready to think she might actually try to rip his throat out, she spoke.

"Did you ever bother to think," Sarah said in a near monotone, "that you endangered the herd and got Gwen killed by staying a part of her life?" Despite the monotone, anger tinged every word.

"Yes," Adrian replied. "Yes, I knew the risks, but I didn't appreciate ... what happened. I thought I was being careful. I now know I wasn't careful enough, nor powerful enough. I won't make that mistake twice." Adrian remembered that Sarah warned him about this. She'd warned him more about what Gwen was going to go through, but the warning was there.

Sarah considered her next words carefully, clamping down on her anger before continuing. "It's not that you weren't careful enough, or powerful enough. It's that you weren't human enough." She paused to let the words sink in. "Why do you think I'm out here on my own? Why do you think I don't have mortal friends? Hells, why do you think I've given up on trying to get with another pack?" Memories of the lost friends from Presidio's Pride burned fired in her eyes for a brief second. "We fuck up everything we touch. Don't you get that?"

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian mulled over her words. His mind struggled to accept them, but he couldn't. Something in his Ordu training suddenly kicked in. He could win this, if he sacrificed enough, was patient enough, and lucky enough.

"Sarah, I get it. I fuck things up. You are pissed as hell about the life, if we can call it that ... the hand you've been dealt."

He shook his head.

"Sarah, I can't give up and become what you've become. I'm not bitter. God - oh God, I wish I could cry. I miss Gwen so much, and maybe worse, I sort of am happy she's not stuck with me anymore. I know what I did was wrong. If I'm lucky, that's a lesson I'll never forget."

He paused, gauging how much fuse Sarah had left.

"I'm not going to give up ... on me. I may not be human any more, but that doesn't mean I can't act with humanity. If I'm going to live a life as a better being than I was a person, I can't run away from it all ... especially with the knowledge that I'll probably fuck up. If I don't try, I'll never stop fucking up. I'll just spiral down until I'm some kind of street predator that other supernaturals have to put down."

Now it was Adrian's turn to feel a taste of anger.

"Sarah, you've built your prison. You act like it will keep you safe from the world, but it won't. If all you do is stay within the confines of your territory, you'll slowly go mad. You know that. It's part of the whole 'we fuck up everything we touch' credo, isn't it?"

"Sarah, I'm going to fight this. When I stop believing that I can beat this ... curse, I'll face the Sun. I promise you that."

The intruder vampire stepped back.

"Wow ... It never occurred to me that I would ever - EVER - say this to you, but STOP being a fucking coward. Rise and face the God-damn world. Howl at the moon. Roam the land like your are free. Get the hell away from this place once and a while. Stand the Fuck up, damn it!"

Feeling he was getting her mad, Adrian took another step into the street, but kept talking.

"If Gwen taught me anything, it was that I could be better than I was. If I can better, you sure as Hell can. Has there EVER been a night you thought I was better than you? Is tonight going to be that night?"

"Are you going to prove my fucking argument that this is a damn prison and lash out beyond your bars, or are you ... you ... you ... going to have hope? I mean, fuck the rest of the leeches. This is all about you."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

As Adrian ran through his sudden burst of verbosity, Sarah stood there, increasingly wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Did he really just call me a coward? Is anyone gonna notice if I rip his head off? Is there enough of a breeze to scatter the ashes?

A certain reluctance to causing too much of a ruckus this early in the evening stayed her hand long enough for the rest of the words to sink in. The target they struck kept her from ripping the leech apart with claws and fangs that were now both extended.

"You," she eventually said, pointing at Adrian with one of those ebony talons, "have apparently gotten some serious balls lately. But if I were you, I'd be real, real careful about swingin' 'em around when you're face to face with a Gangrel. Future warning for when the one you're in front of ain't as nice as me."

With a concerted effort, the claws disappeared back whence they had come. The fangs did not, yet anyway.

"You've given me the warning 'bout that stinky lump of fugly Belzer. Thanks. I see him, I'll let you know where I bury him. Now it's time for you to get somewhere else."

[Adrian Moss]

"Sarah, I lost someone and it's made me think. I like you ... though I'm not sure why. I would be pissed if something happened to you, and right now my plates too full to get you any vengeance you deserve. I ... I care."

Adrian backed way, "Good night Sarah."

He took one more step and the abruptly vanished into the night.

[Adrian Moss] 11:06 am: I'm rolling Wits+Stealth+Obfuscate = 9d10

Adrian Moss *rolls* 9d10: 10+3+9+9+3+1+6+4+1: 46

Adrian Moss *rolls* 1d10: 8: 8

'What am I going to do about this,' the young sort-of man thought. 'I can't keep Sarah safe. She would probably gut me for trying. I can't get vengeance for Gwen - not yet, anyway.'

The words of the Ordo came unbidden to his mind.

Survive and Learn

Survive and Adapt

Survive and Overcome

Adrian would bide his time. Something would come his way one day. All he had to do was be ready for it when that day arrived.