Revenge? (RP)

Circe’s mouth drops open and her brows raise in shock at the sight of Benji bending the sign around. As the security officer approaches and asks about a car hitting it, she steps over and touches the sign. Then she tries to move it, discovering that it is quite solid—this is a real steel pole, not a trick.

She shakes her head and sits down on the curb and says, "I… I don’t understand. You’re telling me that my sister is a demon and YOU are a vampire? But wait how are you out in the sun?"

Circe shakes her head again, still stunned. She says, "So does this mean…? Oh no. Oh. Benji. If Persephone was telling the truth, and I was gonna have her committed… ohmigod… I guess that means I’m a monster too." She sighs heavily. Then something occurs to her and she says, "wait, the doctor said she had faint scars all over her body, suggesting she’d been self-harming for a long time, because there’s no way she could heal from such extensive wounds quickly. Is that, like, a demon thing?"

Circe starts coughing. She turns to Benji, a look of utter shock in her face. She speaks, distraught and confused, saying, "What?!! When she …. When she died?‽!"

Circe just stares at Benji, blinking, as her tired brain struggles to process all of it. She stammers, half to herself as she thinks through it all, saying, "She had said something about dying, but, you know, how could I have taken that seriously? And when she was drugged, she talked about being stabbed and healing and going away and coming back and meeting the the Dude from Big Lebowski and all kinds of things that sounded like being insane, or drugged, or both. So... does this mean... that the scars are from this 'dying' or whatever?"

She shakes her head, curses under her breath, and stands. She looks at Benji with fierce determination spreading across her face. She speaks, her voice firm, saying, "That's it. I simply have to speak to her and hear all this from her. She is my sister, and she has never lied to me, not about important stuff, and she tried to explain all this. So I have to find her. We need to find her. Will you help me?"

Persephone steps out of the shower, her bathroom filled from floor to ceiling with steamy, swirling mist. She towels off, dresses in an easy, comfortable, but fashionable outfit, and heads to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. After she had appeared back in her apartment, she had vomited, so she first cleaned that up, before taking what seemed like an hours-long, scalding hot shower. Once again, her demon-tainted physiology helps her to recover impossibly quickly, and the sedation, as well as the fatigue and stress of the previous few days, feels entirely gone.

She leans on her kitchen counter, sipping her hot coffee, wondering what to do next. She looks down at the rune-carved Nokia that Wentworth had given her and slides it into her purse. She shrugs and thinks, Well, I guess I should just keep serving my Patron until Wentworth contacts me? All he did was threaten; he never even bothered with a carrot. I guess I'd be 'going independent' with him? I hope I wouldn't have to serve him if this works... Jeez, this reminds me of typical corporate politics. I don't know if demons are corporate or if corporations are demonic. She sighs.

After a few more gulps of coffee, she sends a seemingly benign text to Viv, but one that Viv will enjoy. She says, Hi Viv! It's Pers. I was thinking we could have a craft night? I have the scissors! let me know when you're free.

As she glances over her recent texts, she hesitates and hovers her finger over Circe and then Emma. Her shoulders slump, and she doesn't contact either of them. She could try Henry? No, he was worse than useless. Instead, she tries Benji, since she hadn't managed to connect with him yet.

Persephone stands in her kitchen, hot coffee mug in one hand, cell phone in another. Somehow, despite her ordeal, she is well-dressed in a loose linen top, her hair styled, and generally she is feeling very well put together. She rolls her eyes at Circe's dramatic tendencies and replies to Benji patiently, saying, "Well, perhaps she shouldn't have had me drugged and committed to an asylum, then. My Patron had to pull me out of there so I could keep working for Them. Not that she'd understand; I tried to explain to her, but she was...not receptive."

Persephone is dimly aware that she feels strangely cold and emotionless at the moment, but she is frankly uninterested in investigating that further; she is simply grateful that she is not feeling as erratic as she had been previously...

Setting aside that thought, she continues, saying, "So now I'm at my condo, but I wanted to connect with you, since we hadn't really spoken since... Well, the unfortunate incident. I was glad to hear from Emma that you'd escaped those tunnels as well. We should compare notes; I still intend to follow up with the man who killed me, Chaudry. I have plans for him."

Then, remembering that Circe is with Benji, she sighs and says, "Why don't the two of you come here, but I need you to convey this to Circe: she is only to be allowed in my condo if she agrees to treat me with respect. Otherwise, she can go to the airport and beg our parents for tickets back to California. Understood?"

She turns her head to glance over at her coffee pot, thinking she might want more, when she catches a glimpse of her distorted reflection in the panes of glass in her cabinet. Something out of place--something red--catches her eye. She squints and steps closer, twisting her back toward the glass and twisting her neck to see. Unmistakably, on her back, is some kind of mark, like a fresh tattoo--a red rune, much like the ones on the walls at Wentworth's. Somehow, she knows, intuitively, that this is what is responsible for her feeling of emotional deadness.

Fascinating, Persephone thinks, Apparently Wentworth wanted me to be a bit more ...stable. Hmm. Smart.

She returns her attention to the cell phone, awaiting Circe's and Benji's reply.

Persephone replies, "Yes, yes, I know. Besides, I have no interest in blaming Circe for what happened. That serves no purpose. Now, I expect to see you both soon; I have plans this evening. Good bye."

Circe looks concerned but she says, "Well, I'm sure she's off! They had her on megadoses of sedatives an hour ago, and earlier today she had, like, a nervous breakdown. I'm surprised she's able to function at all. So let's go!" She anxiously starts to walk but realizes she has no idea where to go. She looks at Benji sheepishly and says, "Um, Henry drove me here, and he left. Do you have a car? Or should we take a cab?"