Brooks Apartment
The upper two floors of the practice are actually the apartment of Bethany Brooks.
A large sitting room can be found upon coming up the stairs, one that is very open and decorated much like the lower floor. Colors and furniture all reminiscent of the Victorian era. Off the sitting room is a small balcony, fit only for one chair or person.
The kitchen is decidedly more modern, with newer appliances and cupboards. A small dinette set can be found just off the kitchen, and beyond that is a larger verandah which opens up to the yard in the back.
Up another set of small stairs two bedrooms can be found.
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The night has long passed, and the darkness before the dawn shows in the sky. It is only an hour, tops, before the sun will begin to light the distant horizon. The stars are extinguished in anticipation, and the beginnings of traffic starts a new day.
Standing on the balcony, just outside the main sitting room, stands a vampire; a silent sentinel as he watches the beginnings of life down below. His hands are in his pockets, his focus turned inward where the turmoil actually lies. His Own was correct; Marius did learn things of himself.
**
There was running, then there was hiding. When hiding from a vampire there is really only one place to go — the very last place that they would ever expect you to be.
Bethany spent her evening, huddled in a corner, on her own at the vampire bar known as Mary's. No one bothered her, no one spoke to her. She was sending off serious waves of "leave me alone".
Returning now, just as the dawn is ready to make its appearance, she slips in through the office. She has no clients until mid-afternoon and so she can sleep as long as she wishes. Quietly heading up the stairs, she slings her sweater over the railing. Shoes are gently kicked off and she begins to remove the elastic from her hair so that it can fall over her shoulders.
**
Hello, cliche.
There are some things about cliches, however. It means that it has been done.. and done.. and done. Mostly in movies, but it doesn't detract from the fact that perhaps the psychologist should have checked the balcony? The only thing missing is the backdrop that illuminates the vampire suddenly, the coming of a thunderstorm. While there are clouds, there is no hint of a natural storm on the horizon.
Marius waits until the hair falls, freed from its band; he can smell the fear, the relief, the constant *thrum* of blood that rushes through her veins in her stressed state. It has been some time since he has hunted someone who knew what stalks them, and it's a state that causes him to close his eyes briefly to savor the feeling.
It's shortlived, however, and he takes a single step, his hands still deep in his pockets. The accented basso voice is a whisper carried on the night's breeze. "The hour grows late."
**
Why would Bethany think to check her balcony? It is her private residence and as such she should be comfortable coming and going as she pleases.
Unbuckling her belt so that the skirt can be carefully removed as well, she prepares to head down the hallway. The step is not heard, but the voice causes her to scream, an actual scream, and run down the hallway to close the door to the bathroom — that being the nearest door she had access to.
For once, the generally calm and neutral woman is rife with fear.
**
Marius doesn't give chase down the hall. Rather, he remains standing in the sitting room, his hands in his pockets. The fear is palpable.. a physical presence in the room with him. It piques his interest, the deeply seated instinct of a predator, and he has to consciously keep his fangs from extending.
"Bethany." The three syllabled word is spoken with some authority; annoyance and irritation sounding. "Come here."
**
"N-no."
It is perhaps the first time she's told him that with so much emotion behind the word. Despite her accepting her eventual fate, dying tonight is not something she wants to do. Not until she is able to understand what it was he was talking about during that regression. To understand what it means for her past life that his seems to be so intrinsically entwined.
"It is far safer for me here at the moment. I thought you were leaving to go across the border…"
**
"I am returned." It's a simple statement. Rather obvious as well.
Marius is even cleaned up; clean clothes, short wet hair that is almost dry. There is no hint as to what his business may have been south of the border…
"I am not hungry, and I would have you remove yourself from that room so we may speak." If he receives another 'no', the vampire will take things into his own hands, but true to form, he always gives that first chance…
And that is all.
**
"Discussions can be had through doors," Bethany replies, her voice wavering. "I will not come out, as you mean to kill me."
There is a sound within the bathroom, which seems almost like someone is sniffling in their fear.
There is also the thundering of the heart behind the door, racing as the woman it belongs to attempts to see if she can slip out of the window without falling to her death.
**
It's a heartbeat of time that takes Marius from his spot in the sitting room to just outside the door of the bathroom. Clutching the handle of the door, the vampire pushes… hard. There is a splintering of the wood as bits of the lock pulls out and the hinges groan and shift.. and break.
"Do not assume my actions, lamb. I mean to speak, and I will not have this between us."
The roaring of her blood as it pumps rapidly through her veins is a siren song. If there was another vampire in the area, there would truly be a fight over the frightened creature…
**
Bethany winces. "That was one-hundred-year-old oak." The door will be exceedingly hard to replace.
As she starts to lower from the high window, her foot slips on the tub and she winds up falling on her rear end within the large claw-footed item.
Groaning, she peers up at him from her supine position.
"You wish only to speak…?"
**
"Is that not what I said when I commanded you from this room?" Marius sounds.. exhasperated.
To see the woman seated in the bathtub, after the attempt to crawl out the window, the vampire turns his back and makes his way back to the sitting room. A chair is chosen, though at this moment, it would be a great deal easier to pace. 'You should stop pacing, it is unbecoming of a knight to be doing so' echoes.
"Join me."
**
"I woul —" The words of disagreement die before they were ever fully out. Bethany truly would rather stay in the bathtub, since her body is aching a bit from the fall. With a great deal of care and gentle movements, she removes herself from the claw footed tub. Her hands go to refasten the belt and set her clothing to rights.
"As you wish, old one." The words are quiet, uncertain, and are still not coming out as calmly as she would normally be speaking. Her heartrate is still extremely high, fluctuating between rapid thuds and gallops.
**
Marius waits until he is joined in the sitting room before he leans forward, his elbows sitting on the tops of his legs, fingers entwined.. a very human posture. Eyes of blue follow the woman.. studying her.
His voice is low, almost a whisper in the silent room. "What did you do to me?" Even Isobel had said that she'd gotten under his skin. It was easy to deny it to that point where he felt the rage of denial, betrayal of a woman that he'd pledged himself to.. granted, in private.. but he had leave! He had the authority and the right!
And now?
**
"It is called regression. We have been through this many times before, old one. I walked you through the life that you have been locked into for centuries, to the life you had prior to it." Bethany keeps her distance, rather than seating herself at his knee per usual.
"You were a Norman warrior. A knight for King Henry the Third. You traveled to Wales to extract payment. You spoke of Gruffyd ap Llywelyn Fawr…"
**
The medieval mind is having difficulty in communicating exactly what it is he means. Shaking his head in the very human gesture, he tries again. "That is not what I mean." His tones take a growling undertone, but it's an echo of his frustration. "What have you done to me? Who are you? Why is it that I am forced into such thoughts?" He has heard, now, of lambs that are seers, those who can divine thoughts, and.. well, he'd know if she was two-natured— but that isn't it.
"I am a warrior. A soldier." A knight.
**
"I am Bethany Dahlia Brooks. You know this, old one." Bethany sets her eyes upon Marius, giving him a curious look. "Regression has to do with hypnosis and psychology. I…"
Taking a deep breath, she looks away from him. "The time you spoke of, the past you recalled… that was during the time of the first life I existed in. My name then was as it is now. Bethany. But I have done nothing to you, old one, except cause you to remember."
**
Marius comes out with muttered German, the meaning of which lost in the mists of time passed. "Words.." He waves his hand dismissively, finally rising in order to pace.
"Look at me." The words are a command once again. His tones soften once more, "The past that I recalled..". He inhales audibly before continuing, "Was that you whom I saw in the stables?" There was that edge of familiarity, an understanding that the scene that unfolded before him had everything to do with her.. and him. And the rage? "Is that you now?"
**
The command comes and Bethany looks straight at him. There is fear there in her eyes. Terror. "I do not know, old one. I mean to find out though, if you allow me to live." There are ways to do this. One of which is convincing Archer to allow her to regress him. The other is to get in touch with her mother, and have her do a regression.
"It is possible that it was I, but I can assure you that it is as I said before. My only interest in the groom that cares for Abaddon is to find out what it is he knows of the past. There was familiarity there. A look in his eyes. I…" She quiets herself and then looks away from him. "You were so angry, and I do not understand why beyond that it had something to do with the stables and with Gruffydd."
**
"She was to be mine.." is whispered. "Of all the pleasures, she was the treasure."
Marius' expression is impassive, even if the words could be heard as a man lost. It is shortlived, however, in another step of his pacing, there is nothing left behind it. "I will release you and take from you the memory of my existance if that is what you wish." The insistance of meeting with Abaddon's groom wearies him. "I will take the damnable beast from his stable and put him else so you may continue without such pretense."
**
"You are jealous of nothing, old one," Bethany says firmly.
Though fear still runs rampant through her, she takes a step toward him as he paces, trying to put herself between him and his next step.
"With your permission to leave the city, I will contact my mother and see if she would be willing to use her own regression techniques on myself for the remainder of the information. I may not be able to tell you who your treasure was, but I will be able to tell you what it is I see."
**
Marius pauses in his step as Bethany puts herself in the way. He looks down as a scowl creases his face. "You did not answer."
A step to the side is taken, and his shoulders set. "It is growing late. You have my permission, and I will send word that my Own travels." To whom, he doesn't say. "I must leave before time prevents me from doing so." And he is forced to go to ground, as it were.
"You will be safe on your journey."
