Of Flesh and Bone

Satine sat, a desolate island of humanity atop the Arachnos building. Her mind was elsewhere entirely, flitting from one conversation to the next.

“Take care of Lord Valen…”

“Am I a monster?”

“Satine…what will you do now?”

It was all too much…The past couple of days she had survived in a haze of detachment, speaking only when spoken to, and sometimes not at all. But, as all things do, every haunting moment had caught up with her, cruelly managing to catch up to her at once. She couldn’t take it anymore…and let out a pain-ridden scream, tears spilling down her face.

For several moments, she simply let herself feel again; feel all the anguish and vulnerability that her heart had been steeled against for the last few days. She abandoned herself completely to her grief, clinging desperately to the edge of the building less she also abandon herself to the cold concrete that lay several hundred yards down.

That was her first mistake.

Slowly, achingly, she managed to free her mind from her heart’s entrapment…and snarled. There, propped up against the thick spire he stood, as beautiful and dark as any of the devil’s angels. Mathieu.

Satine turned slowly to face him, muscles twitching in anticipation of the fight to come. Seemed Mathieu had other plans. “Crying over your dead lover? Pathetic. You are a disappointment, Satine. He never loved you, only told you that so he could use your body…” He stopped for a moment, black eyes running down her supple form. “I would never have done such a thing to you, pet. I would be kind…Forgiving…All I ask is that you bow to me.”

Satine simply stood there watching him frostily, furiously wiping away her tears…But stopped rather suddenly. By admitting her pain to him, she let him win; when in all essence, her ability to feel was what made her stronger than this swine. She let her tear stains stand as a testament to that fact, facing him no longer as a scared little girl, but as a true predator and he her prey.

Mathieu didn’t seem to notice. “Bow child, and I will spare you. Give you the best that slavery has to offer, the coveted place as my Prime. What more could you want?”

She just stood there, looking at him. Motionless, though every muscle, every fiber of her being screamed for her to lunge. Let the mouse make the first move, she told herself. Let him make his bed in which to lie.

“No, Satine? You will not take my most generous offer? Then be prepared for the consequences.” And he lunged, just as she knew he would, catching her about the shoulders, attempting to propel her towards the spire. Satine simply threw her weight back, and the combined force sent them both over the edge, plummeting towards the concrete below.

Mathieu watched in horror as she disentangled herself from his grasp, and hit him repeatedly. Blood was spewing everywhere, and the most satisfying cracks of bone could be heard. But Satine took no pleasure from it, just as Claurice had taught her. Make it impersonal.

They hit the ground with a sickening crunch as bones gave way to concrete, flesh gave way to bone. Several moments passed, neither able to breathe past the pain that was threatening to spiral them to unconsciousness. But vampires heal quickly, and soon, Mathieu rose, still clutching his arm to his chest, hip stuck out at an odd angle. People watched in total horror as he stumbled off…And in greater horror as Satine pushed herself up. A compound fracture of the tibia, totally obliterated shoulder held her back, but Satine followed, forcing bone back into place, forcing herself to transcend the pain.

His fear was evident as she lunged for him this time. They hit the ground forcibly, bodies entangled in a sick imitation of two lovers. She rolled off of him, regaining her feet, and kicked his injured hip viciously as he tried to rise, arm flying to hit his soft temple, dazing him.

She towered over him as he lay there on the ground, moaning. She stood for a moment before roughly pulling him to his feet, cradling him in a vampiric embrace. It was only then that she spoke in soft whispers.

“I will never be yours. You are a monster, Mathieu. Prepare yourself for death, my friend.”

Mathieu began to uncharacteristically plead. “No, I have lived along time. I paid a high price for this life, and I would not loose it now. I offer my blood as repayment for the debt between us.”

“Fool! You would sink so low as to offer me your infection for your own life? I shall take your offer then, swine!”

Mathieu tensed beneath her as she had done so many times under her Lord’s embrace. Leisurely she leaned down, laying a soft kiss on his neck before savagely sinking her teeth into him, letting his blood flow across her tongue hotly, unconsciously swallowing before she withdrew, whispering in his ear, “Fool. Your blood means naught to me.”

A look of pure terror crossed over Mathieu’s face as Satine broke his neck, twisting as hard as she could…When something hit her like a pure adrenaline rush, causing her to tear Mathieu’s head off completely.

Her entire body was trembling with pure energy…Her mind, realizing after a moment, her infinite stupidity…Mathieu’s blood was in her system. She stumbled off a few feet, and promptly fell to her knees, body quaking with the power…And the pain. Bones shifted in her back, grating against each other in terrific agony. Her vision blurred, mind ripped apart…

She let out a soul searing scream as wings forcibly broke from her skin, extending behind her in a blood soaked mess, and she collapsed on the pavement, blissfully unconscious.

A Dream Disturbed

It was a struggle to get his massive bulk on one of the beds, but somehow Satine managed. He was still bleeding, which in and of itself was odd - Nazael was practically immortal, and healed much quicker than this. Satine watched, a dark knot of worry and helplessness forming in her chest.

“Dream…’ou need to rest, mon chere.” Satine moved to get a blanket, but a gentle hand pulled her back.

“Please. Just…stay with me awhile?” His eyes reached out to her, pleadingly, silver eyes glinting in the faint light.

“Of course, mon amour.” Satine knew something was wrong…And so did he. She took his hand in her own, soothing him, and sat down next to him on the bed. He looked so pale, so fragile, laying there, not at all as she remembered him. “Dream…”

“Hush Satine. No time for meaningless words. Not now.” He raised himself a bit to look at her, wincing with the effort. “Satine, I love you. Never forget it.”

“Oh, Dream-heart…” Satine stifled a sob, smiling sweetly at him. “As long as I leeve, I ‘ill never forget eet. I am so sorry, ‘ou should never…Forgeev me, Dream-heart, for being a fool.”

“There is nothing to forgive. What’s past is past.” He collapsed back on to the bed, drained, his voice a harsh whisper. “I am so tired, Satine. I’m not cut out for this kind of life.” A gentle smile crossed his face, and then nothing. Dreamblood slipped into the sweet arms of death.

Satine stood there for a long moment, watching him. Not a single tear fell, nor a another heart wrenching sign to show she was distraught at his passing. Her heart couldn’t take loosing him like this…her guilt was overwhelming…Her mind, already half crazed from Lord Valen’s threat of suicide, couldn’t wrap itself around this. And so, Satine stood there, watching him…and quite simply broke.

Ages, or moments, Satine couldn’t tell, later, Claurice found them - Dream dead, and Satine still holding his hand, unable to move. Something about the woman’s presence shook Satine. She squeezed his hand gently one last time. Her voice, once so fluid, was completely lackluster, no trace of her accent left. “Good-bye mon amour. Je t’aime.” A single tear fell down her cheek, her only outward concession to the pain that was threatening to rip her apart. She lay a gentle kiss on his forehead before laying him out. He looked so peaceful, laying there, like so many a night he had laid in her arms…A true angel, simply sleeping, ready at any moment to open his eyes and take her into his arms.

Satine broke a little more.

“Shit.” Claurice rubbed her face in her hand, sighing. “Shit.” Satine barely noticed she was there, lost in a dark haze…And as she speaks again, it is to no one, but perhaps her own dieing heart.

“Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant, from every bond of sin, that being raised in the glory of the resurrection, he may be refreshed among the Saints and Elect, Through Christ our Lord. Amen.” The litany of the prayer soothed her, allowing Satine to continue. “I treasure the gift you gave me, Dream-heart. You will never be forgotten, nor will your deed.” Satine looked up at Claurice finally. “He was an Angel, Claurice.”

“Half at least.”

“In his heart, he was.”

“Satine... what will you do now?”

“What do you mean, Claurice?”

“You're going to stay at the Manse, right?”

Satine inhaled a shuddering breath, before continuing. “I..I do not know. I went to him for all the wrong reasons, Claurice. And managed to love him for all the right ones…” A thoughtful pause. “I went to Sharkhead tonight to save a little girl's life…And it cost me far more than I dared dream.” Satine closes here eyes, falling in the trance of the story, reliving it as she spoke.

“Tonight..Kitten called, needed my help. I owe her my life, so I agreed.”

“I was supposed to draw an ill from the child's mind...but her bloodlust wouldn't let her go. I offered my throat, so that none would die. She didn't deserve the guilt of a death on her head at such an age.”

“Mm.” Claurice regarded her flatly.

“She fed, but I was left weak...and so I called on the only person I could trust. I just needed him to bring me back here, let me rest. But...Some family goons jumped us. He fought; we barely managed to escape back here.”

“He...he complained of the bullets hurting far worse than they should...Said he needed rest, so I carried him here. And the rest...is history.” A short thoughtful pause. “He died so that little girl could live, as it were.”

Claurice just stood there. No recriminations. No judgement. Slowly, she nodded her head. Satine opened her eyes, a brief betrayal of her inner turmoil crossing her face before she simply retreated back into herself.

“Claurice...I cannot stay here.”

“You should.”

“I need to think.” And with that, Satine walked away, without so much as a glance back at the body of the man she had loved so dearly.

Kitten Comfort

Satine was a wreck, and she knew it. She came here to get away from everything - Dream, Lord Valen, Mathieu…everything. She stood at the spire of the Arachnos building, gazing out into the distance, trying to reason through her mess of emotions. Rain was pouring down in sheets, but she didn’t notice…and the wetness on her cheek was not because of the rain.

A body lay a few yards from her, glazed eyes seemingly watching the rain fall. Two holes at the neck were the only mark of violence upon the young girl’s body.

Satine had killed her, drained her dry. She kept telling herself that it was out of self preservation, but both she and the dead girl knew different. The murder had not made Satine any less suicidal, in fact, it had only heightened her drive to dive from the roof top.

Again and again, she came back to the same question-why. Why had she released her lover? Why was she even here in the Isles? Why had she let herself be claimed? After three hours of soul searching, Satine still had no more answers than when she had started.

She had not expected it to hurt so bad…she thought she had done the right thing, releasing Dreamblood to the arms of his lover. Now, she was not so sure. Her soul seemed ripped in two and a gigantic piece of her heart was gone, her very will to live seemed tarnished and frail. It was bad enough, the knowledge, but seeing how he ran from her so quickly was like a knife thrust into her already bleeding heart.

And so, Satine had come here - to die or live, she couldn’t tell. She simply clung there, to the spire, tears falling free, emotions ripping through her. Time passed slowly…it seemed eons ago she had killed the girl, but the body was still warm…

And then a sound. Soft footsteps came from the other side of the roof, then a pause. The clank of knees hitting concrete, and a sob. Satine, more curious than anything, swiveled to investigate.

A young woman knelt at the roof tops edge, head buried in her hands. She was dressed plainly, black and white shirt with long, armored pants, her shock of red hair unbound and snapping in the wind.

Another body wrenching sob. Satine dropped down to the roof top, some feet behind the girl, and noiselessly approached her. The girl never moved, never looked up, but still seemed to sense Satine. The girl’s southern drawl was palpable as she spoke. “What do you want?!”

Satine sighed, and knelt with her at the rooftop edge. “Nohzing ‘ou can give.”

The girl looked up. “That bad, huh?”

“Zhat bad.” Satine smiled bitterly, looking out over the edge for a moment before continuing. “Ees eet zhat bad for ‘ou too?”
The girl nodded, managing to compose herself a bit. “I guess I’m not the only one who comes up here for solitude.”

“I deed not come up ‘ere to be alone…I came up ‘ere to die.”

The girl turned, slightly, looking Satine over. “Been there, done that. It’s not worth it, you know. I’m sure there’s someone out there in the world that loves you.”

“Zee problem ees I loved heem too much, so I set heem free.”

“You’re a good person, then, sugar.”

“Non. I am a murderer. Not a good pierson.”

“So am I. And the people around me, they have pounded it into my thick skull that as long as I am sorry for what I have done, I can still be a good person.” The girl stopped for a moment, then smiled. “Name’s Catherine. But everyone calls me Kitty.”

Satine looked startled at this random spot of kindness. “Satine ees mine. Eet ees nice to meet ‘ou, Kitten.”

“Kit-oh, never mind.” For a long moment, neither woman talked, simply content in each other’s company. “You know, I would feel awful bad if you killed yourself tonight, what with me not going to stop you. Think you could hold off till I leave?” A rueful smile touched Kitty’s lips.

“Of course, Kitten.”

“That’s good, because I don’t plan on going anywhere for a long while.”