World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - It's All About Control

[Lucien Hunt]

The ad was pretty clear: 'Grounds Keeper Wanted, apply in person'.

Lucien folded over the campus new paper and the crumpling was stark contrast to the lovely symphony that filled the air of his study. Looking from his paper to the large plasma television mounted to the wall on the far side of his quiet sanctum.

There wasn't much on this evening. Sarah feeding in her territory, Morgan's room mate trying on her 'naughty' clothes while she was away, and Declan wheeling around his house. Day by day the more Lucien practiced with his abilities the more powerful he became. What were difficult actions yesterday were simple gestures and acts of will today. He merely focused on a location or spoke their name, and they appeared upon his screen.

In typical Mastigos fashion Lucien observed the world and heard its secrets. From behind his desk and within his overstuffed leather chair, Lucien ruled the campus by controlling the information. Declan rolled around his house, wincing in pain once in awhile as certain movement triggered a flare of sensations up his spine. He knew what the man was, and head studied up on what his kind do. Werewolves, the Ura-something. He had fought, and was injured by a creature that meant harm to the people and faculty of UCLA, and Lucien was dying to know what.

In one hand the Warlock raised a glass of wine, his senses savoring the vintage. His brow furrowed as his eye angled to the news paper ad.

He arched an eyebrow. "Well, this certainly won't do at all." He muttered distastefully.

*****

It was another cry-in-your-beer love song that played poorly maintained and out-dated speakers. Through the hazy atmosphere that wreaked of stale beer and cigarettes Eugine Fahquad gulped down the last of his beer, a shot of courage to bolster his next move.

She'd been watching him all night. For over the last hour her exotic eyes and enchanting smile hadn't missed the opportunity to get his attention. He was watching her as well and her body language was sending all the right signals: she wanted him.

With a touch of class that could only be found in the most up-scale of dive bars, he licked his hand and slid his saliva saturated palm through what was left of his hair, taking a moment to rake a few strands over the obvious bald spot.

The closer he got the more he knew this was going to be so worth the couple hundred bucks. He started low taking her all in as he rounded the bar where she was sitting. Long black boots that stopped just below her knee to showoff the soft perfection of her legs before he got to panned to the lose short leather skirt. He licked his lips as he gawked to the simple red light sweater with a neckline that didn't go low; it plummeted.

"Hi." She said with a seductive smile.

"You, uh, drinkin' alone?" Eugine asked never taking his eyes from her chest where her breasts were so tightly bound by her dark bra that he expected her cleavage to burst open at any moment... with any luck.

"Not anymore." He picked up on a heavy Caribbean accent as she invited him to sit down by tapping the bar stool beside her and Eugine didn't miss a beat. He tried not to drool on himself but this woman had it all, dark hair, brown-sugar complexion, she was certainly worth a paycheck, or two.

*****

Nine thousand dollar Italian patent leather shoes clacked on the linoleum floor of the UCLA Agricultural Department's sub-level. Dressed to kill in a black Armani with a red power tie, Lucien looked like Satan himself the his hair was smoothed back and held in a snug little pony tail. The expensive briefcase accented his 'can I buy your soul' ensemble and it led some he had passed on his way in here to wonder what the combination to it might be.

Without breaking stride Lucien turned opened the door and closed it all in what seemed to be a single motion. Before Mr. Fahquad could blink the Warlock was in his office, briefcase on the desk, both locks unclasped, with it opened. Lucien had already sat down, crossed his legs and even took a moment tug the hemp about his knee to prevent any unnecessary wrinkling.

"Mr. Fuckwad?" He asked politely. "I'm here about the Groundskeeper position."

"Yer a bit over dressed," the three hundred and sixty-five pound man struggled against a heart attack as speaking was surely more effort than it appeared. "And it's Fah-Quad, smart ass, now beat it I'm not takin' apps at the moment."

Lucien beamed a billion dollar smile, chuckling softly. "I'm not here for the position. You need to clean the saturated fat out of your ears. I said I was hear about the position. It's Declan Perault's job and here to see to it that it stays that way."

"The fuck you just sa-?"

"I'm not finished." The Warlock's gaze was penetrating and in those three words Declan's Boss gave the Mastigos Willworker his full attention. "You'll remove the ad from the paper, give the man the time he needs to recover from his... unfortunate accident, and respectfully welcome him back." He clasped his hands together and rested them gently on his knee. "Now, have I made myself clear?"

Eugine Fahquad was dumbfounded. Some spoiled rich brat just had the nerve to walk into his office and start with requests and insults? His porcine features flared red and beads of sweat formed on his brow. "Get the out of my office," he said as calm as his increasing heart rate allowed him to. "Get out you son of a bitch or so help me-"

"You're not listening," Lucien raised his voice just a bit above Eugine's. Lucien rarely raised his voice, but it was necessary to stay in control of the conversation. With this display of forceful presence Lucien once again dominated the conversation. His look was stern and his gaze could have paralyzed a cobra. "Again, you seem confused. My apologies if I made you feel as if you, in some way, had a choice. You don't. The results of this have already been predetermined, the only factor under your control is whether you do as I have instructed, or I make you."

The tension in the small office was suffocating. Never had Eugine felt such a presence from a person before, Lucien's stare was nerving him and the measure of calmness with which he conducted himself was somehow more fearsome than a frenzied Uratha. The reason why was simple: fear is in the mind, and Lucien's cold and iron clad demeanor was solid. Since Lucien was showing no fear, Eugine felt his own begin to take over.

Stop staring at me like that! The robust man's mind screamed. "You can't make me do shit," He bluffed. "Don't you come in here threatening me! So hel-"

Lucien leaned forward and reached into his briefcase. A small pile of photos scattered themselves lightly upon the man's cluttered desk. Eugine stopped in mid sentence to look at them and Lucien once again had control of the conversation.

He flipped them one after the other. It was him in the bar with the woman he'd met the night before, the Caribbean girl. More and more he turned the pictures seeing himself in all manner of flirtatious activity. "So? She was a fuckin tease, mail em to my wife, see if I care. Bitch too two hundred and fifty bucks from me and bailed out the bathroom window. You got nothing."

Lucien's chin raised a bit to mock the effort of looking over the edge of the photos to see where he was at in the pile. Without saying a word he merely twirled his finger froward, prompting the man to continue; there were more.

As he did the picture took a dark and bitter twist. The woman in the pictures was posing for documentation. Her face was battered, lips swollen and bruised. Her eye was darkened and nearly sealed shut. Several more shown her limbs and back cut and bruised.

Nervously he started to shake. "I-I didn't do this." He stammered as sweat ran down his face. He could feel his heart rate increase.

"But who will believe a pathetic, hateful, and foul man like you?" The Mastigos Prince spoke softly, his words filled the air like the Devil's whispers. "She's beautiful, and by the trial happens that beauty will have returned and you'll still be... well, you. We're she to press charges-"

"Are you blackmailing me?" He asked, wiping the sweat from his face and neck with a damp rag he kept in his back pocket.

Lucien held up his hand, calming the man and maintaining his same tone. "I'm getting to that Eugine, all things in time. Now, where was I?"

"If she were to press charges..."

The honey-tongued Warlock was so in control of the conversation that the man was helping him blackmail himself. Damn, I am good. "Ah, yes," He started again. "If she were, your life would be ruined Eugine. Honestly, do you think a man like you can handle prison?"

The photos fell onto the desk as Eugine fell backwards. "But, I didn't do this. I never touched her." He loked to Lucien as if he'd see some sort of ray of hope somewhere in this situation.

"You will do it. Or I will make you." Lucien said plainly. "Do as I have instructed, and the pictures will forever remain our little secret. It's that simple."

The Mastigos Warlock stood up and closed his briefcase. With a click each clasp shut tight and Lucien turned, opened the door and stood halfway between the closed door and the hallway beyond it. "Oh, and it couldn't hurt to change your attitude Eugine. Smile more, be nicer to people." Lucien smiled the Devil's smile once more. "Find Jesus. Hopefully we won't be in touch."

The glass of Eugine Fahquad's office rattled slightly as Satan departed and he was left alone his orders, the pictures, and Jesus.

[Lucien Hunt]

Laughter echoed through the house.

"You're kidding me?!" Rosalind's flushed expression announced that she laughing for too long, or too hard, or maybe both. It was her day off so appeared more casual. A simple pair of jeans and a hazel tank top seemed to do more for her beauty than her official 'uniform' ever could and Lucien always found it easier to talk to her when she was casual. She sat across from him in the living room that rarely seemed to get much use. Lou and Rosalind had their own living quarters, him in the pool house and her in the apartment above the garage and mostly spent their free time in there relaxing. "Oh, I wish I could have been there!"

Lucien couldn't help but but grin while she buried her face into her hands to laugh once more. "I'm not kidding, he was finishing my sentences for me. I thought he was going to have a heart attack." He sipped his drink, pineapple juice, taking care not to allow a rogue droplet to descend on the expensive suit he was still wearing.

"Ugh! That's priceless!" She rocked back and forth like a young girl still in school chatting with her friends.

"I swear kid, that was pretty low. Your pops would be proud, that's for sure." The cap twist filled the room with a hissing sound. Lucien's Jersey bodyguard leaned in the door frame and swigged his amber beverage. His scowl told Lucien that he wasn't happy with the boy at all. "That shit coulda blew up in yer face kid, an' where'd you git the pics anyway?"

"Actually, uhh, that was pretty easy." He tried to avoid the pangs of guilt that his elder father figure seemed to bring out in him. Lou's disapproval was something the cut deeper than most would expect. When it came to men that Lucien respected, Lou was pretty much it.

"See," Rosalind cut him off, seeing her young master struggle in his dealing with Lou. "After I jumped the window we came home. I just slept in the outfit and make up, and trust me with that much make up and hair stuff going on... I didn't wake up pretty." She chuckled, as did Lou but his mouth barely curled in a grin. "First thing, we took pictures. Lucien practically had to hold me up I was so tired. After that we just put them into the computer, made them black and white, looked up pictures on the interned of battered victims and just transposed the bruised carefully over to the pictures of me."

"But why black and white?" Lou asked.

"Because the differences would be easy to see on a color picture. By making them all black and white, the pigment of the skin was easier to mesh and blend." Lucien explained. "They weren't perfect, but certainly good enough to fool a guy like Fahquad."

"And who is the Perault guy to you that you need to pull a stunt like this?" Pointing with his beer bottle to accent the points between Lucien and Declan. Every time he mentioned 'you' the student found a bottle tip pointed at him. "He's a damn Gardner, kid."

"Groundskeeper." Rosalind corrected, and was suddenly scared into silence by Lou's fatherly stare.

Lucien sighed. He'd have to lie, and he hated that, but some things Lou and Ros just didn't need to know. "Mr. Perault, was hurt really bad recently. A back injury. A few of the students thought that his termination wasn't called for, so they asked me to handle it, considering my level of influence."

"They thought that cuz you had money, he'd listen." Lou filled in the stuff between the lines.

"Pretty much. But the guy was completely unreasonable. Despite an on the job work accident that his insurance should have covered, they termed him and canceled his insurance. Fahquad was scum, so I played hardball with him."

"What you did was stupid." He shot back, almost lettign his anger slip a bit. Lou was proud of why Lucien did what he did but was furious over the how. "That's the sort of shit your dad pulls. I thought you wanted to end up different? How you gon' be different if your out acting like him!?"

"Acting just like him?" Lucien stood up and at that point Rosalind knew it was 'on'. "Let me set you straight on something Lou, were that my father, he wouldn't have given a rats behind about what wrongs were heaped onto Perault! He wouldn't have cared one iota! People like Fahquad are no different from my father, and if I have to use ever underhanded, backstabbing, vile, and cheap trick I ever learned from my dad to put people like my dad in their place..." His tone slowed, he was agitated and struggling to regain his composure. He finally said, calmly. "Then I'll do it. It's about time average people out there had someone out there who knew all the cheap tricks and can stick it to the ones who are running the show." He sighed. "Hell, Lou, he's an okay guy but he has no power. How many times have you been on the bottom looking up, wishing there was someone there who gave a damn and would offer you a hand?"

The last of the beer slid past the aged man lips. Slowly he strolled over the gray carpet and Lucien thought for sure that the man was going to throttle him good for getting loud with him. In a sudden motion Lucien found himself in an embrace. A powerful hug that threatened to stifle the air in his lungs. Lou slapped him on the back a few times with gentleman's praise. "All my life kid. All my life."

He broke off the hug and keeping hand firmly on Lucien's shoulders he looked at him and smiled proudly. "I knew I taught you better than that kid. Next time, don't do nuttin' crazy like this with out letting me in on it. You're all I got boy, you hear me?"

Bashfully the well dressed student scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, Lou."