The Belikov Manor

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Rima turned on her heel, slowly facing Anshel. The blood scent was delectable, and still caked all over him. Was it really all that hard to wash up before you come to yell at somebody? Guilt was evident in her: from the cloudiness of her eyes, to the slight slump of her normally squared shoulders.

She inhaled a breath, letting it out painfully slow. Ignoring Azura’s presence, she locked her gaze with Anshel’s. Blinking, seeming to accept his terms, a faint nod bobbed her head. “You’re right.” Rima stated, voice level. “It appears that I have destroyed the person whom I considered to be the closest thing to a friend I’ve had in my six hundred years.” Rima folded her arms around her stomach. “Anshel, if you’re going to kill me anyway, can I make a request? Make it quick.”

And so Melora burst into the room and her nostrils flared with the scent of another’s blood. Why? She wasn’t a vampire… Her eyebrows knit together in confusion at the gurgle of words that spurted from the Russian's mouth, and she herself said something in Italian.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura grunted from the force of the impact the little human landed him with, and he turned abruptly to face her.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the words swiftly left him in wake of her harried, panicked rambling.
It was almost bad enough to cause him to panic. He shot out both hands, clasping them firmly on her shoulders as he attempted to steady her trembling, and he'd be a fool not to miss the fear in her eyes.
"What happened?" He asked, concern flickering through his eyes for a moment before a protective growl overtook him.
He was well aware of Anshel behind him, the Blackraven pressed even farther back.
"Did one of mine do this to you?" he asked incredulously, finally having spotted the punctures on her arm. His growl intensified ten fold as he held pressure to the wounds, their seeping having caused a mess all down her make shift dress.

[Doctor]

Anshel whipped his head around in time to see Melora crash into the room, limbs everywhere. He only knew a few words of Russian, but doubted he would have been able to understand even if he was fluent, the panicked jabber a mess.

"You don't move," he ordered Rima, postponing his endeavor to decipher her little mind games.

He walked up to his charge and surveyed her appearance, not liking what he found. He should have insisted on the damn cast.

"Breath slowly. Tell us what happened," he tried to catch her eyes and give her something grounded to look at.

[MeloraBelikov]

Her staggered breathing slowly returned to almost normal. She fought back tears, though she was losing terribly, and for once in her life she let the tears fall. No sobbing, just salty tears streaking her face, drawing her makeup down with it. Azura had asked her a question. What was it he asked? She translated it for herself, slowing it down. Finally, she shook her head.

"No. He's here. He was upstairs. He grabbed me. I tried to shoot him. I think he bit me." She was right, and the second she said it her hand began to burn, the sting of the bite setting in late. "Мой отец....Мой отец....he's made his way here. He wants to turn me, Azura....I can't fight him now..." her thoughts were scattered, but they were beginning to make sense, finally. Had he not been holding her by the shoulders, she would have been on the floor again, shaking like a child. Thank God he had a hold of her.

But how had he gotten here? His presence was gone now, but the fear lingered in her, and she fought the urge to look over her shoulder. Occasionally people passed by the door, sneaking peeks at the drama unfolding inside. A few vampire had overheard, and took it upon themselves to look around the safehouse for the intruder. Whispers came from every direction.

"He's gone...but he's going to come back." Throat tight, her voice cracked, becoming even higher than it already was. Blood had dripped all over her creme coloured dress and down her wrist. It dripped from her elbow and onto the floor steadily. He'd managed to fasten his teeth deep in her wrist, and in her hurry to get away she hadn't thought about being cut by them, but even another wound was better than being turned unexpectedly.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Rima listened to the story Melora told in quiet shock, but that blood smell was growing stronger. Her eyes flared with silver, and some shadow that was from the cast that came from Melora and Azura standing together broke away, and in an eerie way, snaked along her flesh, latching over the wound and seeming to create an improvised bandage. It would work until the bleeding stopped.

The man in which the tiny Russian spoke of could only be one person: that father she had heard from other’s thoughts. Anshel and Azura, along with the Gallian’s massive force, hadn’t been able to keep him away? That was sad. So many against one, yet the tiny human was so easily attacked?

As the bleeding began to slow, then stop with the blood clotting, the shadow faded, and the door swung closed with a little push of control in that direction.

Leaning back against the window panes, Rima’s eyes steadily faded back to normal. THis was not looking like a good situation for anybody.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura's eyes took on a sharp look as he listened to her, hanging on each word that had to do with her father. In his home. In his fucking home.
He tried to keep himself calm, wanting nothing more than to go to his clan and tell them to batten the hatches. Then again, his clan wasn't psychically inclined, so he doubted securing the house would do any good against vampire mind games.
Such as the Gallu were merciless in physical strength, the Blackraven's were due their credit for mental strength.
He cursed, grinding his teeth together as he was forced to become gentle, hand reaching up to stroke her hair.
"It's alright, Melora." Though his voice was soft, his eyes were far away, thinking of ways to disembowel the fuck. He was beyond livid, and hard pressed to keep his clawed hand from crushing the nearest thing to him. Nearest thing being Melora's skull.

[MeloraBelikov]

Immediately she stopped her tears and took in a long breath, holding it until she was sure that the tears were done streaming down her cheeks. Silly of her to be showing her fear. What was she thinking?

Azura's hand relaxed her, the tenseness in her shoulders released, and with it went the pain of her muscles. Still, she couldn't entirely relax, half expecting her father to burst into the room at any moment, crazy fuck that he was. "What do I do, Azura?"

See, he cares. Also, your dad is fucked up. Vetis burst into her mind at the most inopportune moment while she was trying to think clearly, only to be meant with hostility.

Would you please just shut the fuck up? Wait until I address you to speak, please!

[AzuraGallu]

The vampire looked down at her, harshness dissolving as he saw her red-rimmed eyes. Then a lovely thought came to him.
"You know, Melora, if I didn't know better, from the look of your eyes I'd say you were totally high right now."
He flashed a fanged smile down at her, assholeishness becoming apparent once again.

[Doctor]

Anshel's ears perked up at Azura's suggestion. Her story did seem far-fetched; they were in a Gallu safe-house after all and the sun was already risen. How could her father possibly have infiltrated the house without anyone noticing? And she had been tripping balls earlier from her pain medication...

Considering all those factors, he wanted to be sure. Anshel grabbed Melora's jaw and turned her to face him, lifting her eyes to the light, looking to see if her pupils were still constricted. However, only fear and annoyance were observed.

"Are you high, Melora? Tell us the truth."

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Rima shook her head clearing her throat. “She’s not. Her thoughts are clear, and she’s practically screaming them. She’s not lying either.” She had her arms folded over her chest, and remained leaning back against the window, passive look on her face. Her gaze fixed on the three in front of her.

Melora had let her live, let this be her pay-back to the Huntress. It was true, she was deeply disturbed and scared by the presence of her Father, how could it be thought she were under the influence? Hell, she even had a bite mark to prove it true.

[MeloraBelikov]

Searching Anshel's eyes for the smile to go along with the joke Azura had just told, she realized quickly that he had taken it seriously, and her mood soured.

Rima attempted to defend her. But by then Melora was already seeing red.

She drew her bloody hand up to Anshel's wrist, pulling his hand from her face, leaving blood wet on his skin. "You're a prick for not believing me. You didn't believe me about Azura, and you're not believing me now. Because yes, Anshel, I made one of Azura's men bite my only good hand, only so I could rip holes in it by pulling it away." Her voice chilled to the same temperature as the night air the night before. She dropped his wrist right in front of his face so that he could stare directly at her blood. "You know, you ought to fuck right off. You'd rather have me immobilized than able to defend myself, you'd rather doubt my every word than take a moment to understand that I'm truthful. I don't know how he got here. Just like I don't know how Azura speaks to ghosts. But fuck you, because I'm telling the truth." And with that, she stormed from the room, leaving the door hanging open in her wake.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura sighed, hanging his head. He was having to mitigate a lot today.
"Anshel," he spoke quietly. "Would you mind if I left to go calm her before she breaks anything...or anyone? If you're uncomfortable here, go to the living area with the others. I'm sure they'll treat you warmly."
He gave a roguish smile to the Judge, letting the other man know he was intending to berate Melora for her outburst, but not so severely that he could toss in a good mocking as well. After all, he was Azura. It was what he did.

[Doctor]

Anshel was surprised by Melora's outburst, even more so by her sudden departure. Was she on the rag or something? The question was buried by concern as soon as he let her accusations sink in.

Had he been too hard on her? Having spent so long investigating her "accidents" and expecting deceit, perhaps Anshel had never allowed himself to fully trust her. Second guessing her every word and motive was, or at least had been, a big part of his job after all. She was reckless and short-sighted, but Melora was a Hunter and part of his team. If he couldn't trust her, what hope was there for them? He'd have to evaluate this further...

"Alright then," Anshel smiled back at Azura. It wasn't the flashiest of his smiles, but it was a good deal brighter than what he would have been capable of not ten minutes prior when he assaulted the vampire. Melora's constant need of supervision ultimately was a tie that bound them together and Anshel couldn't help but find amusement in that.

"She comes to us frightened for her life and then charges out without any protection," he reflected at the oddness of it all. "Try to keep her alive, please. She's a danger to herself when she's pissy like this."

With Azura gone, it was only he and Rima in her quarters and he was so not alright with that fact. He sucked up his discomfort, however, to settle things between them.

"I don't like that you feel entitled to eavesdrop on our thoughts," he stated, eying Rima up and down. "I don't like that I don't understand your motivations or even what the Hell goes on with you and your dead brother. I don't like that you disemboweled me." Anshel made sure to emphasize that last part. "I promised to make you die suffering should anything like that happen again and I assure you that that still stands." Because if she even breathed wrong around him, there would be no hesitation. "Do we understand each other?"

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

“Clearly.” She walked sideways, keeping her distance as she headed to the small desk in the far corner, taking a wine glass back into her palm. The liquid inside was thin, and indeed wine, not blood. Rima took a small drink, leaning back against the desk.

“But I want you to understand something as well.” Letting out a breath, she considered her words carefully before she spoke them, that much was clear. “You’ll never no how much I regret going out that evening on the eve of my nineteenth birthday. It brought took much trouble.”

Her eyes fixed on his face. “You are the closest thing I’ve had to a friend in six hundred years, and you’ll never truly comprehend how much I regret the mistake.” Upon finishing, she took another slow drink, folding her opposite arm around her stomach.

[Doctor]

He rolled her words over in his mind to find sense in it.

"I'm the closest thing you've had to a friend in six-hundred years?" He repeated the sad declaration with his mouth agape in shock and confusion. "Do you usually eviscerate people you get friendly with and I just happened to be the one that survived?" A pause, then Anshel clapped a hand to his mouth to muffle the snort that came up despite his dedication to staying formal and threatening around her.

"That's very sad," he told Rima. It was true. "I'm going to need a lot of time away from you to process... everything." The disembowelment, the ghost, her guilt - he would be stuck in this limbo of anxiety and suspicion until he dealt with all that. Anshel observed Ms. Donavon now attempting to gauge her reaction so that he could finally leave with some idea of where they stood. And he desperately wanted to leave, because the conversation was uncomfortable enough with their backs flushed to opposite walls in an attempt to be as far away from each other as the dimensions of the room would allow.