Night 58: Chapel

[sainted]

[from here]

The room he walked into was larger than he'd expected, but it wasn't hard to guess its purpose, not with the very deliberate arrangement of long red pews. A chapel. Stefan's grip on his knife still didn't relax as he wandered further inside. He'd been in a few churches in his time — what faith in God he'd possessed as a child had waned with too many decades of undead existence, but... call him cliché, he liked Gothic architecture. In his worst moments, he'd enjoyed hunting for victims in church, for the spice of ironic pleasure in knowing they believed themselves to be in a safe house, protected by all those popular fiction vampire deterrents. Save for wooden stakes, fire and the sun, they were all myths. Not that there were any crosses he could see from his cursory glance from the door, or even...

Holy water.

In the dark, the liquid burble of the fountain could've been confused for normal water — or, to the least, one of the less threatening noises in the hospital. You could even convince yourself that the sinister shape rising out of the water was something else from this distance, but Stefan, being able to see in the dark, had no such luxury. Still, the demonic face of the statue barely registered to his mind as he came closer to the fountain. He walked slowly, circling around it, unaware of what he was doing. All of his attention was fixed on the liquid churning in the fountain. Black, blacker than water should've been in the darkness. A deep red flooded the whites of Stefan's eyes. His gums itched. The scent of blood — human blood — hung so heavily in the air around him, he could hardly breathe.

Of course he could tell. Damon might joke that his taste buds had shriveled up after so many years of his diet, but it might as well have been the difference between white wine and vinegar. Human blood and animal blood. And it hadn't been so long either since the last time he'd had a taste of the former, fresh from the vein...

...but he couldn't do it again. Never, no matter how desperate he was. He was starving, yes, four nights and counting, but if he started it up now, under these conditions... There was no guarantee he could reclaim himself again. And he thought of his brother, trying to scheme his way out for all of them, and of Elena, putting on a brave face for their sakes, and of adding another burden on their shoulders. Stefan slapped a hand over his nose and mouth, which helped just enough to let him turn his face away.

Keep fighting.

Stefan spun around, almost faster than humanly possible, and ran.

[to here]

Comments

[thesadist]

Daemon cleared his throat, pushing aside his amusement for the moment at Chipp's approach. Not that he blamed him for his demands in the least. Daemon wanted his Jewels back more than anything, but he doubted he'd get them back from this man.

"That summed up a great deal of it," he drawled, his hands tucked casually in his pockets as he fixed the soldier with a cool stare. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not like those in power here to send one of their own out somewhere where they're vulnerable. Or somewhere that allows us access. Your masters enjoy their secrets. Aren't they worried you'll be made to talk, Harrington?"

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

"Reduced to a 'damn kidnapper'. Ha, dun think I was expecting that." Claude chuckled, somehow finding a very loud and very angry man more amusing than not. "Ya didn't even use 'ya sunova bitch' or threaten to kill my wife. Son, I'm so disappoint." The man shook his head in mock sorrow, before sobering. There was business to take care of, after all.

"First thing's first, I dun know how we took ya. That's classified information as far as I'm concerned," he said as the man raised a finger to scratch his cheek. "Ya know what else is classified? Yer stuff. And besides--" Here, Claude turned to the more eloquent gentleman. "--if I knew any of those secrets, y'all think they'd send me here?"

Never mind he knew how to keep them.

"Trust me, gentlemen," he continued, giving an exasperated sigh. "I'm as expendable as they come. 'Specially since I kin set things on fire." Oh, wait, was he supposed to give that away? Too bad.

[zanuff]

"You want me to threaten your wife?!" What a sick bastard, didn't he even care about her? The more Harrington spoke, the more annoyed Chipp looked, mostly because the guy was admitting that he didn't know anything. If he didn't know anything, then why was he even here?

... Of course, such a question already answered itself, but it did little to make the ninja feel any better as he realized that they weren't gonna get anywhere with a conversation. If this guy was telling the truth... then he really didn't know anything? Why was he involved in a place that he didn't know anything about? That didn't sit right with Chipp, and maybe he preferred it that Harrington was just lying rather then the man being the sort of person who just blindly followed orders without even knowing what he was doing.

... And what was that about setting stuff on fire?!

"So why the hell are you even here if you don't know what's going on?" Chipp spat. He reached forward, like he decided to close the gap between the two of them by trying to grab at Harrington's collar...

"Y'know what, I think you're talking shit. How about you try again and give us some real answers this time?"

[thesadist]

"Chipp, perhaps we should let the man talk," Daemon drawled mildly, laying a light hand on the other man's shoulder before they ended up tussling with this soldier instead of talking. Not that that might not get them answers as well, but Harrington had said something interesting.

"You can set fires," he echoed, his golden gaze narrowing on the man in speculation now. "So those of you in charge aren't as 'normal' as you like to pretend, or that you insist we're deluded about. Bit of a double standard there, Harrington. But I'll grant that I believe you about your being expendable. So how do we talk to the people who can actually give us answers in this place? Are they on the third floor?"

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

"Well, no," Claude admitted, picturesque calm in the face of pure, unadulterated rage. It was no lie to say that he was enjoying this. "I dun even have a wife anymore for ya ta threaten. That, and she'd pro'ly kill us both." He grinned, mouth mostly full of teeth, only to deteriorate into annoyance. "And I'm just here to take down information. Didn't ya hear the announcement?"

Obviously not. These people... Hardly worth letting them alive when they were skirting politeness by reaching for your collar. Fortunately for this guy, the major was in a jovial mood. For now. "If ya want real answers," he began, before tilting his head toward the man's companion, "I suggest ya take lessons from yer friend."

Here, Claude regarded the other, annoyance shifting to something like friendliness. "That's right. Weird double standard, ain't it?" He chuckled. "If yer looking fer the fella who can give ya the answers, well... I believe he ran off with that Marc fella to run a radio show or somethin'."

[zanuff]

"Huh?!" This guy wasn't making any sense... Okay, disregarding that crap about his wife, it sounded like they actually wasted their time chasing after this guy. To be fair, it wasn't like he was lying, because Chipp thought he heard something about... the soldier here supposed to be looking out for something or another, but he didn't really understand it. Now, he didn't really need an explanation, and Chipp just scowled when Harrington ignored him to talk to Daemon, though he did let his friend's point go.

Come on, was this really a time to get pissed about manners of all things?

"So we just wasted our damn time chasing after your sorry ass. Damn!" Chipp seemed quite upset, at the fact that he was being made fun of by this creep and that he wasn't being very cooperative. "I bet you're lying about that fire shit too." How the hell could someone who could set stuff on fire be considered expendable? It wasn't like it was anything special, but certainly not something to laugh at either!

[thesadist]

"I'm not sure it was completely a waste," Daemon commented, although he understood how Chipp felt. Still, he'd guessed that the information they could get from this man would be minimal at best. However, Daemon knew more than when he'd started.

"So Landel's the only one who can give us answers?" he asked, his golden gaze narrowing in speculation as he digested this information. "Not Aguilar? Even though he's in charge now? Does that mean he doesn't know the answers or that we're just not likely to get any from him?"

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

There existed a threshold when it came to jokes, particularly for ones that flew above another's head. Trying to be funny wasn't cutting it for the white-haired man. Furthermore, he had to accuse Claude of lying about fire. Claude never lied about fire.

He sighed audibly, shoulders slumping in the process. "Geez," the man muttered, "if ya wanted a sign, could've asked nicely." After a second labored exhale, he held up a finger. "So ya know that old axiom? 'Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.'" Strangely, the accent dropped at the quote, which Claude paid no mind to.

Instead, he continued. Only this time, he raised the index finger toward the disbeliever, letting concentration slip long enough for a small flame to form at its tip. "Give a man a fire, he's warm for a day," intoned Claude. "Set a man on fire--"

In the blink of an eye, the flame exploded into a flare. Rather insignificant given his capacity, but it likely appeared impressive to the pair before him. "--he's warm for the rest of his life," he concluded. Satisfied, the man reined in his impulses, and the flare disappeared from sight.

Well. Not entirely. Claude noted with vague disinterest that a part of the white-haired man's sleeve had a small flame. Remnants of his stunt, most likely. However, rather than calling attention to that fact, he returned his focus to the more reasonable individual.

"The General's a proud man," he gave, returning to his accent. "He's more apt to take any answers ta his grave." A head shake. "He ain't the creator, though. That's yer good friend Landel right there. So yeah. He's the only one."

[zanuff]

What Chipp muttered to the group at large seemed to upset Harrington. Chipp figured he was upset, because WHY ELSE WOULD HE LIGHT HIM ON FIRE?! Of course, Chipp wasn't thinking that immediately because the fact that he was on fire was enough to scare the crap out of him, leaping backwards and slapping at ... everywhere to get the flames out.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Just as quickly as the flames appeared, they disappeared, leaving Chipp with a smoldering (and very warm) shirt. Harrington was actually rather lucky; Chipp would have certainly challenged him to a fight after that stunt, magical fire powers or not, had he not realized what Harrington also did and saw the flickering of flame that remained on his sleeve. Well, he felt it before he saw it and started to swat at it furiously, not wanting a repeat of that performance.

That was why he was mostly silent when Harrington calmly answered Daemon's question, but very quickly, that silence became replaced with expletives that only grew more severe as Chipp realized he wasn't doing a very good job of smothering the flame out. After some more cursing, he finally succeeded, left with a burn and missing a sleeve. And of course, he missed the entire conversation.

"What the hell, I didn't ask for a goddamn demonstration!! Do that again and I'll kill you!"

Harrington's point seemed to have been made though, as Chipp refrained from following up his threat with a punch. Or perhaps he was aware that while Harrington was "expendable", this was still an interrogation and killing the guy before you were finished was not a good way to get information.

[thesadist]

Daemon's eyes widened slightly at this sudden show of abilities - completely unexpected from the man, especially when he did it so nonchalantly. Daemon was impressed, both by the display and the man's composure about it, although it was overshadowed by his momentary worry for Chipp, who was flailing about trying to make sure all the flames were out, struggling with a persistent tongue of flame on his sleeve.

"Are you alright?" he asked Chipp, resisting the urge to lay a hand on his shoulder, not wanting to injure him further if he were burned beneath his charred and smoking clothing. Daemon turned a narrowed gaze on Harrington, his eyes cold, the temperature around them dropping a degree in response to his honed temper. It was a sharp contrast to the momentary heat of Harrington's flames.

"That was entirely unnecessary."

Although Harrington's answer had intriguing possibilities. "If Landel's the creator, the one with the answers, then how is Aguilar here now? And what does he want?" Daemon added, almost as an afterthought, his temper still dangerously on edge.

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

It appeared as though neither the loud one nor his friend was particularly pleased with the 'heated' development. The latter even held a bit of influence, if the sudden chill and the pointed look meant anything. In the end, all Claude could do was purse his lips and smile. "Sorry, sorry!" he responded to both, holding a hand up to show the utter lack of malicious intent. (Sort of.) "Next time dun just grumble things out without thinking, a'right? I get enough heat fer what I can do--no pun intended."

Onto the next item, then, one the major felt torn on. He could give his conjectures, of course, but doing so was crossing the line between loyalty and betrayal. Perhaps a compromise would be best. "Well, the General pretty much spelled it out that one night," he mused. "He's lookin' ta make ya the finest men and women this project has ta offer. As for how and what, can't say much, sadly."

Classified information and all that.

[zanuff]

"I can grumble whatever I want!" was Chipp's only reply to Harrington's "apology" of sorts. If he were a more perceptive man, he might have been relieved that Demon's icy stare was enough to get Harrington to back off, but instead, he just continued to grumble under his breath, occasional curses of "chicken shit" and "really freaking unnecessary" being heard as Harrington continued to explain himself. Or explain the Institute. Chipp was getting a vague idea of what was going on, but since he was new, some of it was flying right over his head. Granted, even if he wasn't new, such a vague answer would have flown right over his head and into the trash can.

He turned to Daemon, apparently sick of speaking to the soldier any more then he had to. it wasn't like this prick was giving them any real answers anyway.

"Wait, what's he talking about?" Making them into... the 'finest men and women' for a project? Now that Chipp thought about it, it sounded... an awful lot like training. Like forced training. Wait, was that what this was all about? "Is he like... trainin' us or something?"