Revenge? (RP)

Persephone feels the tension in the air as she trauma dumps a bit onto Circe; she sees her little sister squirm uncomfortably. Though the two sisters have always been on good terms, they haven't ever really been confidantes, sharing their personal struggles and traumas. It took Pers years before she told Circe about her assault, for example. Their parents had instilled just too much shame around being anything less than perfect, and mental health was never discussed, so the two girls never learned to communicate that way with each other.

So Persephone lightens the mood. She laughs and eggs Circe on, saying, "Bring him back? Back and what, Circ? Back to smash?" As Circe throws her hands over her face and bursts out laughing, Persephone doubles down. "Or maybe it'll just be a sloppy toppy?"

The two sisters laugh, the tension broken, and Persephone answers more seriously, saying, "if any of that is gonna happen, we'll go to his place, ok? But honestly, after last night, and this morning, and now this afternoon... I'm sore."

Circe protests, "TMI TMI!" but they both laugh anyway. Persephone smiles, secretly thinking, Honey, if you knew the half of it...

She sends another text to Henry, asking if they are still on for tonight at 7, and where they'd like to meet.

Persephone frowns at her phone and then regards Circe in thought. She sighs deeply and her shoulders slump.

"I...Damn. I can explain it all, but it's a lot, and some of it is really weird and hard to believe, and well, it's a big hot mess. If you wanna hear it, I can lay it aaaallll out for you. Henry wants to come over here, actually, and he and I are gonna talk about IT. Like, the stuff that's going on with me, and my weird work situation. He and I are dating, but we may also work together to get me out of my bad work commitment. You know?"

She steps forward and puts her hand on Circe's shoulder. She looks at her earnestly and says, "You're my sister and I love you. And all I've done is been a nightmare sister since you got here. And, this weekend, I... something bad happened to me and I... I don't know if I can keep this all up any more, without talking about it... But I don't wanna trauma dump and, well, you know how it is..."

Circe most certainly would know that Persephone's last sentence, about knowing how it is, refers to how difficult it has always been for their family to talk honestly about painful feelings, or failure, or trauma. After all, Circe was there when Persephone tried to tell their mother about her sexual assault, and her mother steadfastly refused to believe "that such a nice boy could do such a thing." She said awful things about Persephone that night, and Circe never forgot it, but Persephone and Circe have never really discussed the fallout.

Persephone looks at Circe with pain on her face, both at the thought of what she might share, and at the awkwardness of talking about such things with family. She doesn't want to burden little Circ after all, but it may be time to tear down a few of the walls her parents built to keep her safe--walls that also keep her isolated.

Persephone sighs heavily. She takes Circe's hands and walks her over to the sofa and says, "You know how bad things got for me when my company collapsed after grad school, right? When I was so desperate to save what little chance of success I had left with the app launch? I went to every venture capitalist I knew, and they all passed. No one wanted to invest it, not after it had collapsed when my ex ran off with my funds. Well... I was approached by one investor who made me an offer I thought I had to take. So I did, but it was a terrible, terrible mistake. I sold my soul to him for the money to bail me out and restore my parents' retirement fund they'd loaned me. And now he owns my soul and I am damned."

Persephone holds up a hand to quiet Circe before she can respond. She continues, saying, "I know what you're thinking--Pers, you're being overly dramatic again! I wish, but not this time, sis. He... he was actually a demon, Circe. Like a biblical, supernatural, from Hell kind of demon who buys and sells souls via infernal contracts. And now I work for him. And I am going to prove it to you. But, to do that, I have to do something that absolutely will freak you out. But listen to me, Circe: I am still your sister, OK? And I will never hurt you, ever. But this is what I am now, and I am trying to figure out how to deal with it. OK, are you ready? I promise you're safe. Here, let me step back..."

Circe begins to stammer in confusion, saying, "What...? What are you ? Are you being serious right now? Ohmygod Persephone are you on drugs?? Or is this, like, a psychotic break?? Oh my god..."

But before Circe can spin up a full blown panic attack, Persephone stands, spreads her arms, and transforms.

Persephone stands, confused, her mind racing. What the... Are you offing kidding me? Why... OH. Oh no. He... he took it away...

Persephone's face twists in rage. She picks up a tasteful (and undoubtedly expensive) vase on the side table and throws it across the condo into the kitchen, where it shatters all over the marble countertop and spotless sink. She yells a guttural string of curse words, turns and grabs her purse angrily, and storms out, leaving her poor little sister to cry alone.

She calls the car service and heads straight to Wentworth's office. When she arrives, she barges past the receptionist, ignoring her protests, and throwing open his door. As it swings open, she screams, "Give me my goddamned contract you scumbag! Now!"

At the sight of Wentworth, his smug face, and his words, Persephone's rage builds and builds and breaks, like a wave upon the rocks. She squeezes he hands into fists and then screams a curse at the top of her lungs before storming over to the sofa, into which she collapses and begins to sulk.

After a moment, she releases a long sigh--a sigh of defeat. She leans forward, takes the drink, and downs it in one go. She looks at him and says, "I'm gonna need a few more of those. And I'm tired of being in the dark and doing all this half-assed. I need my contract, but also some goddam training or something. How do I get this girl to willingly sign away her soul? I literally have no idea how to even broach that topic. What do I do, secretly take compromising photos and then threaten to go public unless she signs? Oh. Oh no, not that. There's gotta be a better way, yeah? Wouldn't that bring way too much attention to her? To us?"

Persephone takes the drink, downs half of it, and leans back, a smug smile on her face. "Yes there have been compromising situations Repeatedly. She is scared of nothing more than having the world--and her employer--know she's gay, so blackmail could work. What's more, I haven't just taken her body; she's falling for me." She downs the other half and waves the glass in the air to her side, awaiting the refill. She does not tell Wentworth that she has grown fond of Viv, however; she has locked that part of herself away for the moment. This is the time for hard nosed negotiation.

She leans forward and points a finger at Wentworth with the hand holding the glass. She says, "Listen up, Little Lord Fauntleroy. I can get you her. I can get you whoever you need. But I need a little quid pro quo, you hear me?"

Persephone sips her drink, smiles, and throws it in his face. "No. I bring you something and you get me my contract."

She stands, having to briefly steady herself, and heads to the door. She has to meet Henry soon... Oh! They were going to meet at her condo... Ugh, Circe is still there...

She shrugs, having no idea how to handle that, and intends to head back to her condo.

Persephone stops at the door, turns to face Wentworth, and says, "Can you at least get me a contract I can have Viviana sign too? Or am I supposed to write one up on the back of a frakking cocktail napkin after shagging her again?"

Persephone just stood there, looking at Wentworth, feeling utterly defeated. Even though she wanted to kill him where he stood, she knew there was nothing she could do to this man. Especially without the favor of her patron. She hated to admit it, but, at least for now, she needed it. She just shook her head and said, "Fine."

She turned and left, the buzz she had started to develop quickly fading as her anger transformed back into self-loathing.

Persephone stops short in the doorway, holding her purse and soaking wet, as she had stormed out without her coat. She steps inside the door and closes it with a little too much force, causing it to slam loudly. In a tone that ie one part confusion, one part accusation, she says, "Ummm?? I see you two have met?"

Persephone sighs heavily when she realizes what is happening. She was terrible to Circe, Henry shows up to find a crying girl, and he does the good thing and comforts her. The only villain in this scenario, Persephone knows, is her.

She walks in and says, "It’s my fault. I tried to explain to her about the demonic contract, but she didn’t believe me. So I was going to show her my demon form, but my patron is angry at me right now and has revoked it. So I just stood there like an idiot. I stormed out, just… SO angry at it all. I didn’t even get to the part about telling her what happened this weekend!!"

She looks at Circe and says, "I’m sorry I upset you. But I’m not lying. Henry saw it. But… let’s just forget about it right now; I just don’t want you to be upset, ok?"

Persephone begins to protest, saying, "It's not a delusion, it's..." But she trails off as Henry proceeds to henry all over things. First, he says some weird things about Persephone "putting out" that make her uncomfortable; he sounds like a high school boy caught making out behind the bleachers, not an older, mature man. Second, he refuses to affirm Persephone's claim. It is the second issue that ruins things for her.

Persephone looks at him with disdain and shakes her head, hurt and annoyed. She replies, "You still won't support me in this? If you can't believe me after what you've seen and heard, then maybe you should leave. I don't want your pity; I don't want you to tolerate my crazy claims. I want you to believe me. And I certainly won't be 'putting out' for someone who thinks I've lost my mind. So what will it be, Henry?"

She then turns to Circe and says, "And Emma? Yes. Well, No. I mean, Yes, she knows. But, No, her first book was all made up. Then she got a chance to do some 'real' research and discovered that the supernatural is real. So now she is mixed up with very bad people and is acting self-destructively again. So we're taking a break."

She turns back to Henry and crosses her arms, awaiting his response.

Persephone realizes at that moment that Henry will be neither the stalwart supporter nor fellow conspirator she was hoping for; indeed, he's being particularly oafish tonight, and betraying his significantly higher interest in Emma's well-being over hers. Again. And now Persephone has alienated Circe and made her conclude that her older sister has had some kind of psychotic break, may be a drug addict, or possibly a sex worker. Or maybe just a slut. And Emma? Well, Emma's not an option right now.

Persephone feels very alone and very defeated. She looks up at Henry and Circe. She sees their mouths moving, but can't hear them. The walls of her condo feel like they are closing in on her. She feels like someone is sitting on her chest and her breathing becomes rapid and shallow. She begins to shake, her hands visibly quavering and her teeth starting to chatter. She feels her shoulder and neck tense up tightly. She can't see, really--or she can't seem to focus on anything, at least. She has to get out of there!

In the grips of a full-blown PTSD -fueled panic attack, Persephone looks up at Henry and Circe, her eyes wide and desperate, filling with tears that splash down her cheeks, her lips quivering, her voice stammering. "I... I have to... I have to go..."

And she turns and runs! Adrenaline and cortisol pump through her body and she feels like she could smash right through the door. Instead, though, she slams it open with a bang and bolts down the hall to the elevator. She pushes the button 20, maybe 30 times, but it won't come! It's taking forever!!!

She breaks. She collapses, dropping to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, as her body is wracked with sobs. Deep, visceral sobs punctuated with a guttural moaning cry, as if her very soul was howling in pain.

Just then, the elevator dings, about to open. Circe runs out the door and sees her sister lying on the ground shuddering. Circe runs to her, calling her name, but Persephone is unresponsive. She seems to be replaying something, seeing some trauma, rather than the present. Circe shakes her, but Persephone only sobs, cries out in pain, and shudders, her body literally wracked with muscle spasms, as if she were being struck -- or stabbed. Circe is terrified. Henry stands behind Circe, absolutely uselessly looking on, uncertain of what to do.

Circe and Henry look at each other, uncertain of what to do. Henry ineffectually tries to pat Persephone on the arm, saying, "Um, there there, it'll be ok...?" Meanwhile, Circe runs back to the condo and returns with her phone, angrily yelling, "What the hell, Henry! You guys don't have 911 here?!" Henry educates her and they call 999 for emergency services. Throughout, Persephone rocks on the ground, knees to chest, sobbing and shaking. A neighbor or two look out to see what's going on, and Henry lets them know that emergency services have been called, someone is having a nervous breakdown. Some neighbors grant them their privacy; others simply stare.

By the time the emergency services arrive, Persephone seems to have exhausted herself, and she is groggy and somewhat unresponsive. They load her on a gurney and wheel her away. Circe demands to come with them, but the medics direct her to wait at the hospital. Henry does the chivalrous thing and accompanies her.

Persephone finally comes to in a hospital bed. Her whole body hurts, like she's been in a car crash. She is exhausted, feeling hollowed out. And her nerves are frayed; a nurse enters and Persephone yelps and jumps in surprise. She shivers with the chills for a short time afterwards, as her nerves slowly calm themselves. The nurse injects something into an IV and Persephone lapses into sleep.

Her drug-addled dreams are filled with Choudry's rising and falling hand holding the dagger, the demon she met in the tunnels, her patron, Viv, Chablis, Emma... a collage of all that has happened, filled with blood and fire, smoke and pain. But something else is there... a warm light...

She awakens, finally. Daylight streams in. Circe is asleep in a chair across the small room. Henry is not here, having had to leave for work. It is late morning the next day -- she had been asleep for 16 hours. Persephone pulls herself up to sitting and tries to rub her eyes, only to discover her wrists are strapped down to the sides of the bed.

What the...what is going on?

She shakes her head and it all gradually comes back to her. She looks to Circe as her eyes well up with tears. "Circe? Circ? I'm scared..."

Trigger warning: SA and self-harm

With a frightened look on her face, Persephone asks, "Circ! What is happening? Why am I...this?" She tugs at her wrist cuffs and also discovers she is wearing ankle cuffs as well.

Circe looks exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She stands, slowly, and makes her way to Persephone's side, taking one of her restrained hands. With a deep sadness, she says, "Pers, I told them you were suffering from, like, major delusions. And when they examined you, they..." She choked back tears and struggles to continue. She closes her eyes and breathes, composing herself enough to continue. She says, "They saw the scars. They're...all over your body. I ... I didn't know!"

Circe looks down at Persephone's body. Her eyes trace the nearly invisible lines that criss-cross Persephone's whole body -- lines that Persephone herself had not yet noticed. She'd had literally zero time alone with herself since 'coming back,' and had focused on the wound she remembered -- the knife. Apparently, the hell hound had torn her body apart afterwards, so now she has a fine web of scarring across her entire body. A medical professional could easily interpret them as years of careful razor cuts, long healed.

Circe shakes her head in disbelief and then back at Persephone's face. Deeply hurt, she says, "The doctor said based on how well they'd healed, that you have a long history of cutting, going back years. And because you have that kind of history, and you've had a break from reality with major delusions, they said you are a danger to yourself. So..." She trails off, clearly at a loss. She is devastated that her older sister might have had such a long history of self-harm. She knew Persephone had some mental health struggles in the past, but Circe never had any clue of anything of this degree of seriousness.

Circe gets a very serious look on her face and looks Persephone in the eyes. She says, "After they sedated you, you ...said things. You said you were a demon again, that you had already died. You said you were afraid you'd hurt that girl you're dating, Viv. Persephone, I'm... I'm worried and I don't know what to do. I haven't call mom and dad yet, because you know how well they'd handle this, but... I don't know what else to do..."

Still recovering from the sedative they administered, Persephone tries to understand everything that is happening and formulate a reply to her little sister, but the words don't come. Her eyes begins to well with tears again, and they sting when they do so--she'd already cried too much today. Or was it tomorrow? She wasn't even sure. She looks away from Circe in abject shame.

Persephone looks away, eyes closed, and weeps quietly.

Circe had cried until crying ran out already, so she just turns and walks back to her chair and collapses into it. She shakes her head and sighs and picks up her phone. An idea occurs to her and she opens it and looks at her sent messages and outbound calls from the past few days. She realizes that she had let Persephone use her phone when she first saw her--when Pers claimed that she had lost hers. There are several calls and messages to Emma, as well as to another number she doesn't recognize.

"I don't care if they are 'taking a break.' This is too important," Circe mutters to herself, and sends a text to Emma.

Emma, this is Circe, Persephone's sister. Persephone is in the hospital after a mental breakdown. She has been self-harming, for years apparently. She is delusional. They had to restrain her. Emma, she needs help. I need help. Please, I don't know who else to turn to.

She wants to throw the phone, but she sighs and looks at the other number. Almost angrily, she sends a message to it as well, saying, Who is this, and how do you know Persephone? She's in the hospital.

Circe sits in a small upholstered chair across the room from Persephone's bed, drinking a styrofoam cup of disgusting hospital coffee, hoping to stave off the exhaustion the weighs on her. She looks across the room at her sister strapped down to the bed and now asleep again, having been drugged yet again. She flew into a fit when she awoke and Circe wouldn't free her, and it got bad enough that the nurses came in and administered a sedative. Apparently they have to wait until the hospital psychiatric nurse can come by on her rounds later that night before possibly getting Persephone committed to ...

Circe doesn't even want to finish the thought. How did it come to this? Oh Persephone...

Her phone buzzing interrupts her pitiful reverie. She picks it up and sees that an unknown number is calling, but it is one she recognizes, because she called it earlier today. She doesn't know who it is, but it is someone that Persephone called several times when she borrowed Circe's phone.

She answers and, in a voice that sounds equal parts exhausted and panicked, she says, "Hello? Who is this?" Even through the emotions dn fatigue, however, the voice is clear that of an American young woman, and Benji might even detect a similar intonation and accent to Persephone's.

Circe hears Benji’s friendly voice on the phone and replies. She sounds very upset, distraught even, and exhausted. She says, "This is her sister, Circe. I live with her. She never mentioned you. Listen, she’s… she’s not doing well. She’s had a breakdown. And, well… she’s suffering from some very disturbing delusions, things like that she’s a demon, and that she died and came back, and vampires, and all kinds of stuff. She’s sedated now, and I’ll be signing the paperwork later to have her committed, so she can get the treatment she needs and get her away from the people that have been encouraging this. Are you one of the people that that’s been feeding her this stuff??"

Circe relaxes a bit when Benji mentioned their having met. Oh I remember him... oh good, he was normal at least.

She replies, "Oh yes, I think I remember you. Um, well, no she can't talk; she's sedated right now. The psychiatrist already visited and reviewed her file and has decided to have her committed. The nurse should be in soon for me to sign the paperwork. So, talking to her is not possible... Um, I have your number, so once she's all... um... settled in the Ward, I'll find out what visiting hours are and we could visit her? I... I don't know for how long she'll be in there..." Circe's voice began to quaver and shake in increasing amounts as she spoke, as the gravity of her words struck her viscerally.

Circe breathes, trying to calm down a bit. Benji's steady behavior helps. She replies, "Um... I think it's called, like, the Royal London Hospital? Yeah, but probably not after today. I don't know where they'll put her...one of the orderlies was whispering that she belongs in somewhere called Bedlam or something?"

Circe grabs a pen from atop the stack of forms sitting on the side table next to her and she quickly scribbles the name Benji in the margin of one. She says, "Um, yeah, I will, I promise. Um, thanks. I don’t know what… well, yeah. Un ok. Goodbye."

She frowns: she hates doing voice calls in the best of times, and she is overwhelmed at the moment. Unsure if what else to say, she hangs up.

She looks at her phone for a moment and then sees the missed call notification from Emma. Alarmed, she quickly dials Emma back.

Circe had just gotten off the phone with Benji and was about to call Emma when Emma’s name popped up in her phone with an incoming call. "Oh! Pers, it’s Emma," she said, turning to her older sister, only to remember that Persephone was still heavily sedated and strapped down tight to the bed.

With a sigh, she turned away and walked over near the door to the room, and answered the phone. "Emma? Is that you? Oh thank god. Look I know you and Persephone are fighting right now, and normally I’d respect that and leave you alone? But... this is serious. Emma… it’s really bad. Persephone has had, like, a psychotic break or something. She thinks she’s a demon, and she fights vampires or something, like in your book! And Emma? She’s… she’s been self-harming. A lot, and for a long time. It’s awful… So now she’s sedated, and they had to strap her down to the bed? I’m having her committed to an asylum now, so she can get some really serious help. Ohmigod, it’s been a nightmare…"

Just then, Circe looked back at Persephone, only to find the bed empty!! The restraints were still intact, locked in place, but Persephone was just … gone!!

Circe gasped and cried out, "ohmigod she’s gone!! She was just here like, thirty seconds ago!!! She didn’t leave… and we’re on the ninth floor! Oh my god… is she… No she’s not under the bed!! Help, someone help!!! My sister is gone!!! Come help!"

Emma hears the sound of Circe dropping the phone and running off to get help.

After a chaotic few moments, Circe picked up the phone and spoke. Her voice was small and stilted — she sounds as if she has frozen up. She said, "She’s gone. She… she disappeared. I swear she was right here, sedated and restrained. And then…"

Confused, Circe hesitates but does what she’s told. She walks over and looks at the cuffs that had been tightly affixed around Persephone’s wrists and ankles. "They’re… they’re still tied!! How is this possible? I saw them put those things on! I saw her struggle and strain against them! She wasn’t getting out of those things. I don’t understand…"

Circe continues to mumble in disbelief. "But how…? She was literally right here! And I was blocking the only exit, other than, like, the window! It was like ten seconds! I don’t understand…Well.. hey wait a minute!! Why are you on crutches? Are you ok??! Oh mi god do you need help or anything?"

Unconvinced, Circe says, "Well… Ok, hon… Let me know if you hear from Pers, ok? I gotta go look for her."

Circe is clearly back in ‘panicked find her sister’ mode so she just mutters, "nothing reckless, right. Ok bye…" and hangs up the phone.

By now, her yells for help have gotten attention and nurses are streaming in and immediately doubting Circe. She probably just slipped out when you turned your back… I’m sure she’s around here… We’ll alert security so she won’t get far… etc

After about five minutes of junior nurses looking around the floor and having no luck finding her, the head nurse comes in. She looks at the bed and asks, "She was here, and then gone? And you didn’t release her?

Circe affirms the nurse’s words.

The nurse scowls and says, "Young woman I don’t know what game you’re playing but we know it must have been you to release her! She could not have broken out of those restraints! And if she did somehow, they wouldn’t still be fastened like they are! There’s be signs of force! I’ll be sure to tell security that you must have released her."

The nurse and Circe begin to argue, Circe getting increasingly upset.

Circe is distraught. Benji’s is the first friendly face she’s seen since Henry left many hours ago. She goes to Benji and hugs him, despite barely knowing him, and says, "Benji, they don’t believe me! I swear to God she was here one second and then she was gone the next, like a magic trick! I was standing at the door and she didn’t walk past me! And look, that window doesn’t open and we’re on the ninth floor! There’s nowhere else to go here! She was gone and the restraints were like untouched! I don’t understand and I know I sound crazy, but please, you have to believe me!"

Circe looks up at Benji and then, realizing she has invaded his space, takes a few steps back. She nods in understanding as he speaks, and then looks back once more at the bed. She returns her attention to him and says, "Yeah, OK, a walk might do me some good." The nurse protests, saying, "Wait a minute, we have a missing psych patient here! She's been committed! We can't let you just walk out of here! You might have helped the patient escape!" Circe grows angry and steps toward the nurse. She points at the scattered papers on the table nearby and shouts, "I hadn't signed the stupid commitment papers yet, OK? So no, I didn't help her 'escape'. She probably just walked out, ok‽ I'll take care of her." She pushes past the nurse into the hallway.

Assuming Benji follows, Circe whispers to him when he joins her, "I definitely did NOT let her walk out... I swear. Benji, what is going on? She is really sick and I'm scared."

---

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

Persephone awakens to find herself staring up at a ceiling composed of concrete tiles, with cold indirect light illuminating it. She looks around and finds herself in a small, austere space, with polished concrete floors and high walls that glow with cold light. More significant, however, are the endless patterns of complex runes and sigils painted carefully on every square inch of wall; the paint is most likely blood. There is a single large black executive desk nearby, with a high-backed executive chair behind it, but the back is turned to her. She looks down and sees herself in a hospital gown, with red marks on her wrists and ankles, as if she had been struggling against restraints. Her head is foggy, as of she had been drugged, but she also feels as if she has been jolted awake somehow, possibly by the administration of a strong stimulant. She sits up, shivering, as the room can't be more than 50 degrees F (10 C).

The chair turns and Wentworth sits there, hands tented. He speaks, his voice recognizably his, but somehow deeper, more... feral? No, more dangerous; rather than drip with contempt, his every word is a threat. "Miss Zhang. Good. Our time is limited, so I shall be brief. Do pay attention. I have had you removed from your captivity at the behest of our patron, so that you might continue to serve Them. From now on, however, I shall be assigning you additional tasks, ones that might seem to ... undermine our Patron's goals. I had considered giving you these assignments as if from our Patron, but you are too clever and would have discerned the truth eventually. So instead, I shall make you complicit and force your cooperation. You shall be assisting me in, shall we say, going Independent. I have tired of serving our Patron and have made other arrangements, which I have taken great pains to hide. And now you are implicated in them as well, so our Patron shall believe you have been involved from the start of your time with us, and you shall suffer eternal torment alongside me, should my plan be discovered. All of which is to say, do not attempt to inform our Patron or fail in the tasks I give you, or... well. We need not dwell on the consequences. Take this phone and await my orders." He slides an old Nokia phone across his desk. It is black with byzantine carvings of sigils and runes all over it, with the faintest hint of blood in the bottoms of each deep groove.

He stands and says, "I can only stretch your millisecond of teleportation time so long--so I shall send you now to your condo, where our Patron expects you to appear. For They are Always Watching, my dear. You shall find that all records of your hospitalization and impending psychiatric commitment have been expunged, the nurses and doctors involved reassigned, and your neighbor, a witness to your collapse, given a story about an allergic reaction. Now, begone and await my orders, or suffer."

Suddenly, Wentworth's strange Nokia phone is in her hand. She looks back up and, for a moment, Wentworth's image flickers, revealing something...else. And suddenly she is wrenched out of this strange pocket of space and thrown back into the stream of things, only to find herself once again lying on a minimalist sofa and looking up at tasteful, indirect lighting -- but this time in her condo.

She sits up and vomits as her stomach churns from the experience.

The elevator doors close as Benji speaks. She turns to look at him, anger exploding across her face. "It was YOU! You're the one who put this in her head! You did this to her! How DARE you!" She feebly swings at Benji with wild fists and yells, "Leave my sister alone! AHHHH!!!" After a few more swings and another few screams, she collapses into him, sobbing.

Circe’s sobs subside and she looks up at Benji. She steps back from him, embarrassed, and says, "No, you didn’t do anything… I mean, this has all been a lot, and I’m really worried about my sister. Wait, what do you mean, evidence?"

Circe looks down at his arm and then up at Benji skeptically. She says, "Yeah? Ugh fine."

She takes his arm in her hands, holding it with one hand while her other hand glides down toward his wrist, settling two fingers onto the inside of his wrist where a pulse might be.

She furrows her brows, confused, and tries again. She mutters, "dammit…" and tries a third time.

She looks up at Benji, her eyes big with surprise, and she gets a stubborn look. She jabs her fingers up into the side of his neck, probing for the carotid artery, the surest way to feel a pulse.

She probes and searches and, finally, her mouth drops open and she looks up at him again, then steps quickly back, whispering, "What are you?‽!"

Just then the elevator doors open. Ding!

Circe laughs, but almost immediately her laugh dies away and she says, "wait, you’re serious." she shakes her head in disbelief. She crosses her arms and arches a skeptical eyebrow, saying, "Ok I see, so Pers is a demon, and Emma, let me guess… She’s a werewolf. And there’s another guy who’s an angel, and he’s clueless and wears a trenchcoat all the time, and you all drive around in an old muscle car hunting ghosts. Is that it?"

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?"

When Circe and Benji enter the condo, Circe is met with a transformed scene. Apparently I the intervening time since Persephone arrived and now, she managed to clean the place properly, brew coffee, and put out snacks, as if she were preparing to entertain guests. She welcomes the new arrivals and says, "Benji! It is good that you survived our ordeal. We have much to discuss." Then she turns to her sister and, in a businesslike and controlled tone, she says, "But first, Circe, I need to speak with you. Please sit and listen."

She gestures to the sofa after which she takes a seat in the chair opposite. Once Circe is seated, Persephone proceeds to recount the facts of what occurred thus far. All along, her voice is dispassionate, almost cold, but always polite, pleasant. She tells them of how her ex had stolen all of her funding, including her parents' retirement funds. She shares the account of how a mysterious investor sent agents to offer a solution, one that seemed perfect to address her issues, and all she had to do was come work for Them. She shares how, at the signing ceremony, she realized the true nature and gravity of her choice, yet, as she considered the neatness of the solution and the appeal of the life she would live in Their employment, she had a moment of weakness and chose to agree. Persephone then summarizes the unpleasant jobs she'd been tasked with thus far, surely filling in a few gaps for Circe to explain Persephone's weird behavior lately. Finally, she recounted what happened in the tunnels, how she died and met an avatar of her Patron, and how she was returned, and then rescued from the hospital. She does not, however, mention. anything about Wentworth or those moments of lost time during which she spoke to him.

Finally, she concludes, "I had been emotionally distraught by the situation--having one's immortal soul condemned to hell is indeed a serious matter, after all. And the experience of being murdered is not one mortals handle well. So the trauma and emotional clutter was picking up. Fortunately, one of my Patron's agents gave me this, which seems to help quite a bit." She turns subtly, revealing the red marking upon her back.

She nods in conclusion and looks at Circe. "So that's my tale. Any questions?"

Persephone sits next to Circe on the sofa and places a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She is expressing authentic love and support, but it is weirdly distant, as if she were a therapist or counselor acting in a professional capacity rather than a sibling.

She answers Circe's questions one at a time, presenting the facts as benignly as she can, saying, "The contract is in perpetuity, honey. That means forever, even after the death of my body. As I mentioned, I was murdered but my Patron decided that my work was not finished, so they fixed me up and sent me back. I assume that, eventually, they'll find something for me to do... down there. Unless I can get out of it, of course! I've requested a copy of my contract so I might review it, and I'm looking into my options. For now, though, I do have to do the jobs they assign me, which currently means recruiting. I am supposed to try to get other people to join our organization. It's not as if they are demanding I kill people, or something. I would rather not lure anyone else into this difficult situation, though, which is why I'm looking into getting out."

She smiles and squeezes Circe's hand and assures her, saying, "I'm OK, and I'm gonna be OK. It just might take a while, and I might have to do some unpleasant work until I do get free. Honestly, it feels a lot like working for an evil corporation until I can strike out on my own, you know? So, if it helps, just think of it as me working for, like, British Petroleum or something. I don't like it, but it's the job I have until I can find something else, you know? At least it pays really well..."

She shrugs, as if the whole moral dimension of her demonic contract was a minor thing.

Persephone chuckles and says, "Well, I don't like it either, sis! But they made the offer when I was in a real bind -- you remember what my ex did to me -- so now I have to deal with the consequences of that choice. And that's why I'm trying to get out of it!"

When Circe asks about her red mark, Pers reaches toward it and feels a twinge of pain as she touches it. She replies, "Oh this? Well, think of it as a supernatural SSRI, like Prozac. I just got it. It's helping me cope with the trauma of having been murdered, of serving demons, and so on. Hon, you saw what I was like without out! Remember me out by the elevator, having a full-blown PTSD episode? We don't want that again, now do we?" She smiles benignly, though she herself wonders, is... is that thing removable? And she realizes that the Persephone that lacks the red sigil would not want the sigil, even though now that she has it she finds it comforting. This tension concerns her, and she plans to return to it later, but she sets it aside for the moment.

Persephone rolls her eyes and becomes exasperated at Circe's childishness. "First of all, whether or not you 'like' it isn't really relevant here. And I have already told you what I am doing about it... I am looking into ways of getting out of the contract. Hey, give me that."

Persephone takes the now crumpled papers from her sister and furrows her brow as she looks over them. She glances to the side and notices that Benji is asleep at her counter. She absent-mindedly says, "Oh, right." She then takes out her phone and calls Wentworth's office. When his administrative assistant answers, Persephone ignores the assistant's now-expected condescension and says, "I need a pint or two of fresh blood at my condo for a vampire associate who is assisting me on a job. Now, tell Wentworth I need it and I don't want to hear your weak excuses." She hangs up before the assistant can get a word in edgewise.

She turns back to the papers in her hand and holds them up to Circe and says, "See? Henry brought these. He is helping me too. Everyone here seems to be supporting me and helping me through this. Well..." She looks pointedly at Circe and adds, "Well, almost everybody."

Persephone looks at Circe with a disappointed face and leans in very closely. She whispers in her ear, saying, "My demonic patron gave me this condo. They are probably listening... I don't want to share details here, ok? So calm down." Whether or not this conspiratorial espionage thriller hypothesis was true or not was not particularly important to Persephone; what matters is that it is exactly the kind of thing that Circe could latch onto.

She returned her attention to the papers and tries to make sense of them. Who is Elliot?

Persephone holds up a hand and says, "Eh, I wouldn't call him my boyfriend. We slept together; he'll probably want to keep doing so. I mostly just want his help with this stuff..." She gestures to the paperwork he had provided. "The relationship is transactional, truth be told, but I am confident that he is aware of that and accepts it as well. And if not, well, then he is hopelessly naive. As for Viv, yes, that relationship has an emotional component that Henry's lacks, though it is mostly one-sided; she is clearly more smitten than I, though I do have a certain fondness for her. As for when we will be seeing either of them, I don't know. I will be seeing her tonight, though. Now, I need a shower. Oh, and if someone comes to the door with a delivery, it is for Benji."