Originally posted August 28, 2008
((Siobhan tries to make The Dorms a bit safer, and reflects on the nature of super heroes and villains with her vampire bodyguard.))
"Hold the bloody torch still," Siobhan said in Polish at sharp whisper. Jacek's malformed figure shifted the flashlight subtlety, focusing on the nearly completed rune. "Thank ye."
A twisted voice spoke, a heavy train drawn across long worn tracks. "Countess, I believe you may be one of the few people I know that is incomprehensible in two languages. Three perhaps, but I am not one to judge your fluency in Gaelic."
"Wssssit, shut it," Siobhan hissed. "Ah dinnae want tae wake the wee bairns."
"They will not hear us. They will not see us," the vampire responded in Polish. Shiv scowled at him in the darkness. She could not argue. Very, very few could perceive Jacek and any companion he protected unless he wished. She turned her attention back to the rune, shifting in the awkward space to finish the last strokes.
"You can smell the innocence," Jacek said with a sigh. Shiv looked around the darkened room from her position on the floor. She could hear the breathing of a dozen or so children and teens, some more innocent than others. "Touch a hair on one of them and ah'll send ye back tae seanmhathair in small, irregularly shaped pieces. Let's see 'ow long t'will take you tae recover from that, bloodsucker."
Jacek chuckled, raising the hairs along Siobhan's arms. "I love your posturing. You know Dr. Thomas would punish you. Besides, if I meant any harm to the children, how could I possibly standing in the dorms?"
Siobhan sighed. He had a point. Tonight marked the culmination of months of work, dozens of secret incursions into the dorms by the pair. After the finishing strokes, the ward would be completed. No one wishing harm to any member of the Teen Phalanx could enter the living spaces. They would stand in the entrance, suddenly forgetting that they knew how to move forward. Let them tear up the lab, the meeting rooms, Siobhan's office. The children only need to get here to be safe.
"Aye," Shiv nodded. "Ah'm a wee bit scunnered with this nonsense."
Villains and heroes alike could learn a thing from vampires. Shiv would never understand why you would invite someone into your home if they meant you harm and then stand around and talk about it for hours. If Dr. Thomas, Siobhan's grandmother, ever invited you into one of her "offices" (she guarded the location of the actual home very carefully), chances are you wouldn't survive longer the first veiled threat. Something to be said for hundreds of years of experience and vampire practicality. Stupid kindred didn't usually last more than a few months. Foolish, crazy heroes seemed to live on forever. Siobhan had met more than a few.
After moving to Paragon, Siobhan performed some research. She read through the 100 best comics of all time to get a better idea about superheroes and the like. She remembered a scene from Alan Moore's Watchmen. Confronted by the heroes, the villain looks at them and says, "Do it?... I'm not a republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?"
"I did it thirty-five minutes ago."
Now that was proper vampire thinking.
"Tell me Countess. I've been reading some of the books at the flat."
"Ye ken read?" Shiv winced. Jacek used her title to irritate her.
Jacek chuckled again. "I understand that certain covens would sacrifice children to the fae in exchange for additional power."
"Ah dinnea know anything about that. We di 'ave some kine that would ask us tae arrange a meeting with fairies. Ah dinnea remember any sacrifices, at least nae tae the fae." She pulled the pen back from the rune. Leaning in close to the wall, she breathed across it. It glowed faintly for a moment. Siobhan felt the energies of the ward close in around her and smiled.
"Your coven performed sacrifices?"
Shiv let him wait as she prepared a simple concealment spell. Painting over the ward would work just as well, but she couldn't find the right color. "Aye," she said, rising to her feet. "The witches 'eld life as sacred. Offering a goat demonstrated a deep sacrifice."
"Hmm. I don't always remember you holding life so sacred."
Siobhan glared into the one remaining eye of her disfigured companion. It had taken months before she could gaze on his face without flinching. "That was a long taime ago."
Jacek's face twisted to form a grim smile. "Of course."
Siobhan looked around room again. Satisfied with its energies, she turned to leave. "We're done 'ere."
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