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A Monster: Now and Forever (Razgriz x kuro_bara)

Selena’s ride to Germany was surprisingly uneventful and it both relieved her and worried her. She wasn’t a fool, part of her reason for coming to Berlin in the first place was to lead the warlock in the wrong direction. Still, if she could avoid a confrontation with him a bit longer, all the better. After leaving the train station with the one bag she had brought with her she immediately headed for the Coven.

The Coven here was quite large with smaller groups set up throughout the city. As much as she wanted to hole up at the Coven’s headquarters, she knew it would be safer to say with one of the other groups. After checking in with the witches that led the Berlin Coven and providing them with an update on her situation and current job, Selena decided to pay a visit to a friend from university. Hannah Krause had been in the same sorority as Selena when they attended the same University in America and even back then Hannah had been a fun loving, party kind of girl. Selena really hoped the witch had grown up some but it was unlikely. It seemed the girl had hit a wall in maturity that she refused to overcome. Still, Hannah was a good friend and she was excited to see her.

Selena got her address from the Coven and headed to the small apartment complex where a group of about five witches resided, including Hannah. Pressing the buzzer at the door for the indicated room, a cheery female voice answered in German. Selena would recognize that voice anywhere. “Hannah, let me in.” She demanded in her best uppity snob tone.

There was a squeal of delight on the other end and the door buzzed loudly as it was unlocked. Selena barely made it out of the elevator before she was tackled by the half naked, busty blonde who looked absolutely no different than she did in University. Selena was entirely unsurprised to find Hannah in little more than a tank top and panties, parading around the halls of the apartment. She never did have much modesty and more often than not it got her into trouble. Selena could distinctly recall rescuing Hannah on multiple occasions when she got herself in trouble with guys...or girls...or monsters for that matter. The younger witch had very fluid taste in who or what she was attracted to, it put a whole new spin on the flavour of the month.

Selena hugged the blonde, before pushing the wriggling girl off. “Nice to see you too.” She commented in a dry tone.

Hannah beamed at her and brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “It has been so long Selena, I was beginning to worry you had forgotten me.” Her accent was not nearly as strong as it was in the past, meaning she had probably spent more time in some English speaking areas. They walked back to her apartment and Hannah helped get her friend settled in, making some tea while Selena explained some of the situation. She left out who she was working for of course, but did tell Hannah about the warlock that was chasing her. Hannah thought it was hilarious that a guy was chasing her all over Europe and Selena figured it was best to leave it at that. Any more detail might put the exuberant blonde in harms way.

She hadn’t realized that she had zoned out a bit while Hannah chattered about what she had been up to lately, until the blonde reached out and touched her arm. “Oh, I’m sorry Hannah, what were you saying?”

Hannah gave her an exasperated smile. “I was saying we should go out tonight, to get your mind off your troubling thoughts.” Hannah explained, her smile turning playful. “There is a rave tonight that I was planning on going to with the girls, you should come.” Of course the first thing Hannah would want to drag her to was a rave.

Selena frowned, the likelihood he would catch up to and track her by tonight was pretty slim...but it seemed like such a reckless thing to do when she should be hiding. Then again, considering the amount of magic and monsters that would be present at a rave, or at least the kind Hannah would go to may be enough to cover her up completely. Finally she smiled and nodded at her friend. “Fine, I’ll go out tonight but only this once, I am supposed to be working you know.” Hannah gave a delighted laugh, dragging Selena to her room to find suitable outfits for them both for the evenings events.

Selena couldn't help feeling a small pang of worry as she tried on clothes and forced a smile for her friend...the warlocks face was lurking in the back of her mind and somehow she knew he was not going to give up on finding her any time soon.
 
Ricendithas continued to walk along, muttering at his own stupidity for leaving the one map behind; as much as he felt like he should go back to the hotel where he was staying, he was sure they'd marked it as an arson scene. Well, at least they wouldn't find any accelerant; that thought made him smile a bit. Even if he was still largely human - albeit with some fairly significant upgrades - he was astonished by the deathgrip mortalkind as a whole had on the scientific. Granted, there certainly was value in the sciences; after all, alchemy - something most if not all arcane masters had studied to some degree or another - was a combination of 'chemistry', 'physics' and in certain instances 'astronomy'. But even still, their devotion to trying to explain EVERYTHING left most humans troublingly blind to the truth of magic.

However, Ricendithas cast this aside as he tried to think of an alternative way to get his hands on a map; stores seemed to be largely closed at this late hour, and he wasn't about to risk further exposure to unwanted attention by breaking in. However, the thought of breaking in did make another idea cross his mind. Maybe he wouldn't have to break into a store...That hotel where he first started tracking the witch. She was probably trying to get out in a hurry, so maybe she had a map that got left behind in her room. It was worth a shot at least; and with this, the staff would likely assume he was just another guest.

Pulling the hood of his cloak further up over his face, he stepped up his pace and within moments reached the large and impressive establishment; she was on the top floor, and that probably meant someone had yet to go up there just yet. "Let's just pray this works out" he muttered as he walked into the lobby; definitely ritzy, he added as a mental afterthought. The walls were crafted of immaculate marble polished to an incredible sheen, fine art paintings from artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Giovanni Paolo Panini hung intermittently on the walls. The columns in the middle of the rooms possessed lights that cast a comforting glow; it wasn't too bright nor too dim. Seemed they took great care of their guests here.

Putting that out of his head, he asked the lobby clerk for directions to the elevators; making his way, he then stepped inside the chromed steel box and pushed the button on the side to take him to the floor. Thankfully no one else was in here; though he still found himself agitated at how long this was taking. Plus, the small car made him feel cramped even though he himself wasn't that large in stature; how can mortals stomach this, he mused. Standing shoulder to shoulder in such a fashion is so discomforting, like canned sardines.

Finally at his destination, he stepped out and began searching for the room the witch was staying in. Holding his hand out in front of him, he moved along and tried to feel out the witch's magic signature. Eventually he came across the right room; despite her already being gone, he could feel her magic here. Checking to his left and right to make sure he was clear, the warlock pressed his index finger to the space where the door and doorjam met and spoke "Spiritus ignis flamma Hanc ferro". A thin sliver of flame shot out from the digit tip; giving his finger a quick swipe down, he felt a bit of resistance as the bolt was cut and he was given free access to the room.

Stepping inside, he then turned and remelted the bolt to help lock the door again; it wouldn't be a perfect fit, but it would work to keep people out. The room itself was spectacular; seemed whoever this witch had become found herself a means to possess a fair sum of money. A sizable bed, its sheets still mused up, sat in one corner of the room and could easily fit two people. A phone lay on the nightstand right next to it, and upon finding the mini-fridge he found it to be mostly stocked. "Probably didn't even check out...Hope she doesn't mind me staying on her dime" Ricendithas thought with a sinister little smile; even if he didn't find her tonight, at least he had somewhere comfortable to stay. He found upon further that she indeed left in a hurry; personal affects (mostly clothing) were left behind; however, rummaging through some of the cabinets and drawers found him what he needed: A map of Europe in its entirety.

"Excellent...Now, let's see where you went" the warlock mumbled; turning he found a sizable desk behind him, on which he spread out the map. Holding up his index finger, a wisp of blue flame popped out like a lighter would; he then touched the map but the fire did not spread. He then began to chant:


"Audi spiritu ardoris.
Accipe et haec,
ostende mihi viam.
Accipe et haec,
huius causa.
Accipe et haec,
id esse libertatem!"

At once, the tendril shot onto the map and became a point in Italy where the train station had been; in short, the source of its origin. The flame then spread, snaking up through Verona, Italy; for hours, he watched the train move up through various portions of Italy. It then seemed to past through the western most corner of Austria, passing through Innsbruck before passing into Ebersberg, Germany; however, once it reached a few miles inside the border, the trail went cold. The flame just paused and would not proceed any further; Ricendithas now had even stronger knowledge of the witch's involvement with this new monster he was hunting. She had to have chosen this on purpose, in order to throw him off her trail.

But to see if his suspicions were in fact correct, he needed to make a call; walking over to the bed, he then picked up the phone and dialed a mere six digit code; this was a code Boss gave to all Hunters that acted as a hack of sorts to route the call directly to his personal phone. Within moments he heard Bolsov's voice, "Who is this?" Same old Boss; the warlock figured the Boss was taking his nap about now. But tough shit, he had information. "Nice to hear from you too" Ricendithas replied, to which Boss then stated, "Ric? Son of a bitch, don't tell me you killed him already?" "Hah, you wish. No, but I did find out someone who might be able lead us to her" "Her? You're telling me this bastard's a bitch?" "Apparently so; it seems this new riser of ours has fingers in the witch's covens". Ric could hear Boss swear in surprise; definitely unwelcome news if the covens were siding with this creature.

"So...When you bringing this informant in?" Bolsov then asked, to which Ricendithas replied, "Not an informant for us...Informant for the target...And....". Ric then went into detail about what happened, the fact that someone was able to curse Ric earning a hearty laugh from Bolsov himself. Once the hysterics were over, Bolsov then said, "But you got a lead on where she is, huh?". "Yeah...The train's trail went cold near Wurzburg, so that's where I'm going to start looking first". "You know, I'm surprised; I figured you'd have blown your money on women and booze by this point" Boss commented snarkily; the warlock just stated, "Wanted to, but after everything that happened today...I'll see about finding a nice blonde in Frankfurt or something". Boss just chuckled and replied, "Alright, horndog; just remember to watch yourself". "I always do...Will report back later" Ricendithas concluded before hanging up; a nice shower might be handy. Something that made him strip down and go into the bathroom to do just that.

Moments later, Ricendithas emerged from the washroom, his entire muscled form red from the extremely hot (and to many others, unbearably so) shower water; though to him he felt it could still use some more power behind it. A towel over his head, he rubbed his hair dry and was thinking about changing back into his robes; however, he felt comfortable as he was now, oddly enough. And with that, he just crawled back under the covers and decided to pursue his new lead tomorrow after some rest and food. Besides, maybe if she felt she was safe for the time being...Might make her stick around long enough for him to find her.
 
The problem with visiting Hannah, is that she was a particularly persuasive little witch. One night of partying turned into a three day blur of pounding music, half naked forms and some sort of potion that Hannah swore would leave no ill side effects. Selena was dressed in slinky gold dress, her body pressed between Hannah and what she was hundred percent sure was a vampire but she could not muster up a single ounce of concern for her situation. There was no worry, no desire for anything but the pleasure of the party.

The vampire was grinding against her, moving to the pounding beat of the music, his face pressed to her neck as he inhaled her scent. Hannah’s potion was better than any drug, any alcohol, really any substance. It made her feel light, and wonderful, every touch sending a thrill of pleasure through her body. Even the beat of the music made her shiver with ecstasy. She could feel the vampires fangs sink into her skin and moaned, her hands gripping his head as he drank her blood. In the back of her mind she knew that it was unwise to let him drink from her, Cassandra actually frowned upon her human employees participating in such things. It put her people at risk, especially if the vampire was not one of hers.

The rave itself was taking place at one of a dozen empty warehouses near the edge of the city. The parties often attracted all sorts of members of the supernatural community. All sorts ranging from humans to the worst sort of monsters that fed on humans gathered here. It was the perfect feeding ground for them, a few deaths or missing people would be written off as collateral. A group of witches outside the Coven protected the place, so that the average hunter wouldn’t stumble upon it and stir up a panic among the patrons. They also changed locations every weekend to make it harder to find.

It was little better than a buffet for the monster kind that attended. Invites were often sent out to unsuspecting humans, those that weren’t aware of the supernatural community. Those poor souls had no idea what they were getting into when they came to the party, some walked away unscathed with only a blurry recollection of the events. Others didn’t walk away at, becoming a meal or some other sort of prey from the beasts that lurked in the flashing lights and shadows. Selena could see from where she was standing a woman, clearly dead, as some creature or another fed on her flesh. There were gouges in her chest and chunks ripped from her thighs and stomach, the look of delight at odds with the grotesque state of her body. Selena saw it and a part of her felt sick inside, but there was no overcoming the intensity of the potion and the way it affected her mind.

Turning her attention back to the vampire, she pulled away from Hannah leaving her friend among a group humans and succubus, looking completely lost in the music and feeling of the bodies around her. She led the vampire to a secluded corner, letting him press her against the wall, a hungry smile on his face as he leaned in kissed her with bloody lips. She could feel his hands on her thighs as he started sliding the dress up, just as eager for her body as he was for blood. Selena closed her eyes, another moan passing her lips as the vampire once again sunk his fangs into her neck.
 
With the warlock now gone for the moment, it certainly seemed a time to relax. The music was hypnotic, drinks and refreshments flowed from the bar...And some of the unlucky patrons who attended. A small gaggle of succubi giggled as they unwound themselves from a pile, showing a withered husk of a man they'd just 'fed' from; even with his skin drawn taut and the moisture from his body completely sucked out, it looked like the man had died an incredibly blissful death, for the corners of his mouth were curled into a smile of utter, unfiltered pleasure. However, for one particular vampire, he was not here for pleasure; no, this was business. Dressed in a slick crimson suit to match his eyes, his black hair falling down to frame his unearthly beautiful face, he scanned the heaving crowd as if searching for someone. And despite the fact that he was dressed to party, he was strictly a person of business. "She must be here....Where are you, Selena?" he thought; the first person the witch would have sought would have undoubtedly dragged her to a party like this. It had been three days since last contact with any of Cassandra's associates, and after a short conversation with The Steward, he'd been assigned with tracking Selena down. Thankfully, his past ensured that he had a particularly full black book of contacts for finding out when and where the biggest raves were happening.

There were too many bodies here, too many scents to try and filter out; it didn’t help that aside from potions, other humans brought in things like ecstasy and coke to help confuse the senses further and drive them even more into a partying frenzy. Though he had to admit, he did remember a time when he wasn't too different from them; of course, more often than not his version of partying got people hurt. And it took incredibly unfortunate circumstances to make him realize just how wrong his outlook on life was. But that didn't matter now; now he had something real to work for. Something meaningful: He'd had to work hard, but eventually he became one of the Baroness' trusted enforcers. But little did he know he would be performing more than one duty tonight. Eventually, he would see the young shapely witch he was looking for get dragged off to another corner of the warehouse; no doubt they were going for something other than friendly conversation. Even with the heavy scents of alcohol, sweat and blood in the air, he could tell that her new friend was a vampire. And a hungry one at that. His nostrils flared as he got closer; that vampire wasn't from any nest Cassandra knew of. "Great, a rogue" he muttered under his breath. Pushing his way past a werewolf bumping and grinding with a lean-bodied female of his own kind, he heard the human-disguised beast growl, "Watch it, stiff!" Serov paused; being a called a "stiff" was to vampires like the pejorative "nigger" was to those of African descent. Especially from a flea-bitten mutt like him. "Oh, darling...Be easy. Remember, you promised to be nice tonight" he heard his date say; the male let out a snarl, "Yeah, yeah...Damn stiffs".

Serov felt his rage creep up, the fangs in his mouth starting to length as the urge to utterly tear the throat from that mangy walking tick factory; however, the scent of blood caught his attention. His eyes focused on the interloping rouge, watching the vampire sink his disgusting teeth into Selena's neck. Storming his way through a small group of humans, he shouted "You filthy disgusting mutant! Unhand her!" Before the other vampire could even register what happened, he felt someone grab the collar of his shirt and yank him hard backwards. Thankfully, he'd just pulled his fangs out for a breather from feeding else he'd have torn the witch's jugular to shreds. He felt himself go flying through the air and onto a table, causing the patrons to scatter as their drink glasses were shattered, the unfortunate party-goer lying on the floor in a daze. "I had thought it was made perfectly clear that rogues are forbidden from feeding on the Baroness' lands!" Serov bellowed as he hauled the dazed vampire up off the ground, his fists bunching the collar's fabric tightly. The other vampire was clearly frightened "H...hey, man, look I don't want any trouble. Besides, that delicious babe was enjoying it! I wasn't doing nothing wrong!" This earned him more of Serov's wrath; the enforcer then slammed the vampire onto the solid metal table, stomach facing the top, denting the furniture piece to the point of it nearly splitting in two. "No...You have done plenty wrong. Now you will join your other rogue brethren in oblivion" Serov hissed; he reached down and with an angry howl, tore the rogue's head clean off. Blood spurted from the stump, the form now lifeless; some of the more liberal monsters instantly descended on the fresh corpse, two werewolves fighting over the monster's undead heart while the rest of the party went on undisturbed.

Tossing the head carelessly aside, he then turned and went back to the witch; his expression had softened considerably now that his pent-up anger had a - rather satisfying - release. But there was a still hardness there, perhaps because the moment of unbridled rage made it feel like his heart would actually start beating again. "Selena...Damn it. Hold still" he said; grasping her shoulders, he pressed his tongue to her neck, his saliva trailing over the neat holes in her throat and healing them. The rogue did seem to have a point, at least: Her blood was quite delectable. The more primal part of him wanted to take more, but he suppressed it and pulled away. Taking a few steady breaths to calm down, his elongated canines retracted to their normal size before he finally added, "Selena, what the hell were you thinking? Why did you not stay at the coven until you were contacted, and by the Baroness, why would you let a rogue feed from you!?"
 
Selena barely registered what had happen, the potion was still affecting her too strongly to muster up any interest in more than her immediate surroundings and pleasure. even the sight of her current entertainment being ripped to shreds barely fazed her. She was, however, just alert enough to realize the vampire before her was not the same as the previous one and that he was for lack of a better word a friend, or at least not an enemy. He too worked for Cassandra...her mind swam, making her sway slightly. Cassandra...she was on a mission for the Baroness, she was supposed to be focusing on that, keeping the vampiresses secrets safe. Her awareness was beginning to trickle back at least until Serov gripped her shoulders and licked the bite mark on her neck to heal it.

She let out a soft hiss of pleasure, her hands sliding up his back and clutching at his jacket as she pressed her body tightly against his. Any thoughts she had about her duty and responsibility flew out of her head, the moment she felt his tongue on her skin. It had sent an electric tingle of pleasure through her whole body making her shudder. She vaguely heard his words, his complicated questions and gazed up at him with lust glazed eyes. Why had she let a rogue feed from her...they were disgusting creatures...bottom feeders as far as most in the supernatural community were concerned. Selena made a valiant attempt at focusing again but just could not manage it. A slow smile danced across her lips as she peered up at him. “Because it felt good…” She murmured pressing her face against his neck and writhing to the pounding music again.

It was clear, at least for the time being, that Selena was entirely incapable of providing answers. Until Hannah’s potion wore off or something counteracted it, she was no different from most of the patrons at the party and in her current state was putting a great deal at risk. Selena normally kept a level head on her shoulders but she hadn’t counted on her friend basically drugging her and using magic to persuade her to leave behind all inhibitions. One of Hannah’s more potent abilities was using her spells to place a suggestion in a person which is exactly what she had done to Selena. The potion was part of the spell to keep Selena in party mode, and the other which had been slipping her the brew all weekend. While Hannah wasn’t exactly trying to be malicious, her actions were as usual reckless. Her desire for a good time outweighing any sense of responsibility to the Coven or to anyone else.

Hannah herself was still with a group of supernaturals, grinding on a rather handsome werewolf when she spotted Serov and Selena in the corner. “Shit…” She muttered. She recognized the vamp as one of the Baronesses men. Not wanting to get the whole mess pinned on her, she slipped out of the group and vanished from the party, slipping away before Serov could track her down.
 
Serov could feel the lust practically exuding from Selena in waves, like a vile contagion that threatened to spread out and infect the entire room anew; though given the rather wild state of partying in here, that hardly seemed possible. His blood-red hues focused on her still as she ground against him, feeling every curve of her body rub on his own; damn, this wasn't good. Soon, he might succumb to the rave music and pheromone and drug-saturated atmosphere; memories of the parties he went to in the past flashed in his mind. It was all the same, but something that was so hard to let go of: The hypnotic beat, the grinding, the hype from everyone else's energy. It provided an intoxicating high that few other things could replicate. And Selena's smooth, velvety voice whispering that one simple sentence into his ear made everything that much harder to deny; soon, he found himself starting to grind against her as well, the effects of feeding on fresh potent blood such as this making his wilder side start to surface.

But now was not the time to let himself succumb to the rhythm of the music; it wasn't long however, before he heard a voice that would just about melt any heart speak "Mind if I join in? You two look like you're having fun". Serov turned to see a rather effeminate male human, his shirt removed to let his slightly pale skin and well-defined abs be known to all who laid eyes on him. Short blond locks framed a thin-jawed face; however, it did nothing to detract from his overall attractiveness. "An Incubus....Lovely" Serov groaned mentally; much like their female counterparts, every inch of them exuded sexual desirability. For both men and women, few could resist them; even the hardiest of witches would have some trouble completely ignoring an Incubus' influence if the demon set their sights on having them.

He then just watched as the male began to bump and grind in time to the music; a sly grin crossed his features at the vampire's incessant staring "Well? Come on, big boy; I can show you and your girl a real fun time. I don't mind you checking me out, but I think staring can only go so far...If you know what I mean". Serov grimaced; every part of him just wanted to lose himself in this situation and go nuts like he used to, but another part was telling him to keep his wits about him. To make sure that any subject worthy of Cassandra's consideration remained unharmed. Shaking himself of the desire, he finally grabbed Selena's wrist and stated, "We're leaving, Selena; you're too exposed here. Come on". As he took the witch by the arm and led her away, his ears deaf to any protest she might have had, he heard the male demon give a defeated huff and say, "Fine! It's not like you two were all that fun to begin with!"

Ignoring the comment, Serov led Selena out of a side entrance to the make-shift club; Selena just needed to rest. Yeah, that was it; he'd received word from Walter about the encounter she had with that one warlock. Still, now that they were in The Shroud, he should have a much harder time tracking her here. Key word should; he didn't realize just how powerful this warlock was, nor that he was currently closing in on where Selena was. But that didn't matter right now; it was dusk and it would be best for Selena to come stay with him for the moment. At least until whatever was given to her wore off. It was here that he continued to walk her out onto the main street; he would bring her back to his place, that way she could rest until the effects of the potion wore off. He didn't really consider what she might be thinking he was trying to do, but that wasn't important to him at the moment. They soon arrived at a red Mercedes parked nearby and after helping the witch get in, hopped in as well.

For a while they drove around Berlin until they arrived at a fairly decent looking house in Zehlendorf; it was a two-story villa of mortar and brick and plaster, the front of the establishment a freshly-painted-looking white and a nicely trimmed front yard. A balcony sat directly above the door, its perimeter surrounded by polished black iron guardrails and black shingles covered the roof to give it a nice old-time appearance. He pulled into the driveway and said, "Here we are...Hope you don't mind, but you staying at the party was a bad idea".
 
Selena was luckily too focused on the person directly in front of her to really notice the Incubus, though his presence did crank up her lust another notch. She followed Serov as willingly as a child, letting him tuck her into his vehicle without a single word of protest, still swaying to the music only she seemed to hear now. As they pulled into the driveway of his house a tiny frown flickered across her features as she tried to recall whose home it was, she knew it wasn’t Hannah’s, it took her a while to connect things in her state. Her eyes landed on Serov as he got out of the car and she smiled, relaxing. He was a friend, he would keep her safe.

The dark haired beauty, followed him into the house and gazed around mostly unseeing. Her skin was flushed and covered in sweat from the party, her hair was a mess, in fact Selena was just a mess in general. Free of the intense sensations of the rave, Selena was actually regaining some semblance of focus. She looked to Serov with a placid smile. “Can I have a shower?” She asked, already reaching behind her and unzipping the dress, letting it fall to the floor. The outfit had been tight enough she had been wearing nothing underneath and seemed not to care at all.

The vampire showed her to guest bathroom, debating on whether it was wise to leave her alone. After ensuring she was capable of handling the simple task of shower he let her be. The shower did wonders for clearing her head, the cool water washing away the scent and mess of the party. The longer she remained under the water the more horrified she became. Despite the focus returning the urge to move and the desire were still a dull ache inside her body. If she ever laid her hands on Hannah again she would kill the little blonde witch.

A good hour later she finally emerged from the shower wrapped in a large towel and looking extremely embarrassed as she faced the vampire. The fact that he had been sent to collect her was a bad sign. “How long…” She asked in a soft voice, a dark blush on her cheeks. “How long has it been since I made a report?” If she had compromised the Baroness, she doubted she would be leaving his house alive. Her mind raced as she desperately tried to recall the last few nights to no avail.
 
Poor Serov could hardly take it when Selena unzipped her dress, revealing herself in all her naked glory; to say her body was like that of a goddess would be an understatement. Then again, it seemed all magic users and other supernatural creatures had some degree of physical attractiveness; why this was the case could only be fathomed by going back to when the first 'monster' was born. In any case, seeing her standing there in just heels and nothing else was definitely a turn-on; however, for the sake of trying to keep himself in check, he just nodded and led her to the bathroom before going back and sitting down on the plush armchair in his living room.

Serov just waited for Selena to finish; he would let her take as long as she needed to 'sober up'. He didn't know what she'd been giving or had been taking, but whatever it was made her quite wild; the vampire knew Selena liked to have fun, but this...This was nearly compromising the Baroness. So far, he had no reason to suspect she'd done anything to betray the Baroness' location to anyone or reveal anything significantly important; in fact, he doubted the Baroness was even on her mind. But he would still need to make sure; there was a call he could make. Someone he knew that might help Selena remember the events...Or he could try to do it himself. Hypnosis was well within his ability to perform, after all.

Finally, his sensitive ears picked up the soft padding of feet on the hardwood floors; the scent of the soaps she used wafted from her as well, only adding to the pleasantness of the sight he turned to behold. Standing in nothing but a large towel, the evidence of her curves were no less hidden from him; he was suddenly reminded of the taste of her blood when he healed her neck wounds. That and the lust in her voice when she ground up against him, her breath hot on his neck. A visible shudder passed through him as he suppressed the bubbling emotions within. When she asked him about how long it had been though, he seemed to snap out of it. "You've been out of contact for half a week, almost five days now. The Steward was concerned that whatever forced you to flee from Venice had captured you...And you know what that would have meant for me to do". A damn shame it would have been; he really did like Selena. Even if her choice in girlfriends had poisoned her judgment now and again, she was a good person with an open heart and clear conscience.

Standing up, he excused himself from the room only to return a few moments later with a rather comfortable looking silk robe; he was a little bit larger than her but he had a feeling she would fit just fine in this. Plus she wouldn't have to worry about holding her towel closed. Holding it out to her with his head turned in the opposite direction, he just said "Dress in this. Then tell me why the Steward had to twist his knickers in a knot making sure you weren't captured or worse".
 
Selena had enough grace restored at this point to at least blush when he handed her the robe. She was very careful to avoid touching his skin, worried that even that small contact would push her over the edge. Even his close proximity made her skin burn and a tingle, a flash of memory from the party crackling through her mind of his tongue against her skin. She whirled around and quickly put the robe on, pulling the cord so it was snug around her waist. The feel of the silk made her shiver but she forced her mind to ignore it and turned around to face Serov.

After getting comfortable on the matching sofa, she gave him a pensive look. “Last week I had a run in with a hunter…the hunter.” She murmured, not quite meeting Serov’s eye. Selena explained about her run in with the warlock, about having to terminate her one of her spies, she even confessed to her failed attempt to eliminate him and why she had let him go. “I owed the man a debt.” She explained, a touch defensively. “I could not kill him and I should have, I know the consequence for that.” Serov could very well kill her for that simple oversight.

She sighed and leaned back into the cushions, closing her emerald eyes. “I told him nothing but he is a very persistent and very efficient hunter.” She muttered. “I would be unsurprised if he managed to track me this far, even in the shroud. I have put a great many things at risk, myself included.” The intensity of that warlock frightened her and the last thing she wanted was for him to find her. She doubted that Serov would be much protection, though perhaps together they could fend him off. It would be better if he just killed her now or shipped her off to the Steward. That thought did make her shiver with fear, a punishment directly from the Steward terrified even more than the hunter catching her.

Her eyes opened slowly and she peered at him across the living room. “My own punishment aside, it seems Hannah’s games have gotten a bit out of control. The Coven here should be notified. She…” Selena bit her lip, knowing her words could very well seal her friends fate. “She is too much of a liability, not just to the Baroness but to the entire supernatural community.”

Depending on what Serov chose to do with the information, there were two possible outcomes for the younger witch. One, they could report her to the Coven and let it remain witches business. In that instance, the Coven would probably seal her powers and force her to do clerical work for an unknown amount of time in the extensive archives each Coven kept. This would certainly keep her out of trouble for a good long while. The second, was for Serov to deal with it himself, and it was unlikely Hannah would walk away from that. Lucky for the little blonde, she really did not know a lot of the woman she had apparently pledged allegiance to, other than she was occasionally required to perform a small task, create a spell or provide a potion in return for her protection.

Selena yawned deeply enough her eyes watered. “I will leave it to you to decide what to do with that matter. I am to personally connected to Hannah to make a sound choice and…” She flushed with embarrassment again. “I do not trust my own mind right now to make any sort of important decision.” She curled up with her head on the arm of the sofa, her eyes sliding closed again. She felt completely exhausted and burn out, she had no idea if she had food or water during the time Hannah had drugged her, didn’t really remember anything she had done and that was probably for the best. Given the nature of the party Selena kind of hoped her memories of it didn’t return at all.
 
Serov just waited patiently, feeling the robe tugged out of his hand; the shuffling of feet and the near-inaudible creak from the sofa being sat on altered him to the fact that she was done. Turning, he then took a seat back in the armchair, letting the plushness of the furniture absorb his body weight as he might listen to Selena's explanation of events past. The throw pillows on the sofa served obscure some of the witch's curves from his sight; however, the mental image of seeing Selena in the buff was forever burned into his brain and he felt a slightly overwhelming urge to tear that robe back off her and take her right there.

But he didn't, keeping his composure calm he gave his ear to let Selena tell her side of things; she obviously knew better than to lie, that much he knew. But he found it hard to believe a hunter would give her so much trouble that she would feel the need to get out of town. But the news that it was a warlock surprised him; very few males in comparison practiced the arcane arts these and the old masters had either secluded themselves in hiding, were dead or were in the Baroness' protection as her aides.

When she finished, he realized that any threat against the Baroness had to be dealt with. But Selena...Selena was too good of a witch to let fall because she held onto her sense of honor; though he was surprised her opponent did the same, given how she described him as utterly ruthless. All he did know was that he would work to reduce Selena's punishment, whatever Walter decided it might be; after all, one of the core tenets of being in Cassandra's employ was to honor one's debts.

However, the issue of Hannah's actions were a different story altogether; from his own experience, witch covens preferred to deal with any miscreants themselves. Even within The Shroud, Cassandra had been kind enough to let them live their own life...So long as they helped her whenever she might call for it. "A fair assessment of yourself, Selena; though if it was Hannah that drugged you, I would expect her concoctions to have that effect" he then replied; careless as the blond witch was, she was quite the potions master.

Regardless, he decided to abandon his plan to hypnotize her; she'd laid bare everything that happened, and he was one to definitely detect a lie. "I will talk with Walter about Hannah; it is more than likely she will be handed back to the Coven to be dealt with there, however. If it does come down to where I have to deal with her...I only hope that you do not hold a grudge against me" he then replied; it was often a pickle being an enforcer of Cassandra's employ. Despite her goal of unity, he found himself tearing apart relationships in the name of bringing the Baroness' goals to fruition.

"But tell you what we'll do...We'll discuss this further in the morning; you look exhausted, and wherever Hannah is I'm sure she can take care of herself for one night" he then replied; taking her by the hand, he guided her up and led her to a back guest bedroom. Inside was a lavish king-sized, covered in red velvet-looking sheets and massively oversized pillows. A wide-brimmed shaded lamp provided a gentle glow of light when he flipped the light switch on; however, Serov flinched a little. Any source of light was a bit irritating for a vampire after all. "Sleep here for tonight; tomorrow we can get this sorted out. I'll be in the master bedroom upstairs if you need anything...Rest well, Selena" he then added and turned to upstairs; he wouldn't really need to sleep, as the night was his domain. He would probably use the time to try and locate Hannah and apprehend her before she got herself into more trouble..As well as contact the Steward about what to do with the whole situation.
 
Selena felt a surge of relief at his words, that he would speak to Walter about any punishment. She had not realized how worried she was until he mentioned it. She was still a bit lost in thought over Hannah still being out there and hadn’t noticed Serov reach for her until his hand closed around hers. An electric tingle ran up her arm and a small gasp escaped her lips. The vampire led her to a plush guest room and left her there, the loss of contact making her shiver and bite her lip. She could barely force herself to nod to his words as he disappeared to the next floor.

Before she realized what was happening, Selena took three long strides to the door, her hand resting on the handle. It took a great force of will to pull her fingers away from the door, knowing Hannah’s potion was causing the lustful urges helped...barely. She made herself walk away from the door, her skin flushing red again, the fact that the simple contact of his hand in hers caused this sort of reaction was more than a little frightening. With a frustrated sigh she slid into the bed and began working through a meditation exercise to clear her mind. It took a long time but eventually the witch fell into a fitful sleep.

***

The door to the apartment burst inward as Hannah rushed into her home, her blonde hair was matted and in disarray from the party. Her make up smeared and her clothing askew, the blond witch had wasted no time in rushing away from the rave in case the vampire wanted to question her about her little concoction. She didn’t relish a run in with any of the Steward’s little inquisitors.

Stuffing some clothing and belongings into a bag and changing into a pair of sweats and a baggy sweater, Hannah took a quick look around. The vampire would probably come here first and she needed to slow him down on tracking her. She knew of Serov’s reputation and he was an excellent hound. Digging through a cupboard full of potion bottles she snatched one out of the back and grinned. The label had a black rose on it, her own little joke about what the potion did.

Hannah occasionally had a bit of a cruel streak, her makeshift ecstasy had been an idea given to her by a succubus friend, as had this one. The succubi were masters of lust and could use it to harm as much as help. Using an essence from a succubus that had been betrayed and killed by a lover Hannah had brewed up this little gem. The potion was essentially identical to what she had given to Selena with one tiny little alteration. It would throw the victims cravings into overdrive. Whether that was sex, food, drugs, booze, it didn’t matter, whatever the person affected by the potion wanted the most they would search for relentlessly. They would try to sate a hunger caused by the potion but the magic in it blocked any satisfaction.

No matter how much the victim had there would be no fulfillment. Depending on the person this could cause overdose, insanity and in several cases her victims had gone so far as to end their own lives out of desperation for release. Heading to the door, Hannah held the potion out in front of her and whispered a few words. The vial floated into the apartment and shattered, the potion dissipating into the air. Anyone that walked into the apartment would inhale the potion, it would hit them unexpectedly would last at least 24 hours.

Smiling to herself about her own cleverness, the young witch headed for her family’s cabin located outside the city. She planned to hole up there until the vampire gave up or she had to flee again. Eventually things would blow over and she could return to her usual amusements.
 
Little did anyone know just how close the one they had talked about was; under the cover of darkness a cloaked figure strode through the streets. He'd just arrived after a quick stopover in Potsdam to meet with a local Hunter branch; within this all-covering shroud he was glad to see that Hunters still thrived here. Of course, it was a hassle to get into the stinking place since the warlock's German was a bit rusty; however, one of the members was fluent in both English and German and served as a translator. A quick call to the Boss from his own branch served to stock Ricendithas with vials of dead man's blood, small bombs filled with silver and iron dust that he could ignite with his own fire magic, a vial of lamb's blood and accompanying silver knife, and small herb pouches with things like nightshade, hemlock and mandragora root along with some money for various expenses. At his side, despite his distaste for the weapon class, sat a Beretta M9 pistol; in its magazine sat fifteen bullets, the lead replaced with silver. Another magazine contained iron hollow-point rounds, and a third had regular bullets which Ricendithas had inscribed to burst into flame upon impact.

It wasn't that the warlock distrusted firearms; his hearing was fairly sensitive and the sound of gunfire made his ears ring something fierce if it was too close. But he knew for people without gifts like his, firearms and projectile weaponry in general were often necessary. Even if it wasn't lethal ammunition, he'd seen his fellow Hunters use creative means involving guns to accomplish their goal. In any case, he knew he was getting close; he could feel the magical signature of the witch growing stronger. One thing he noticed was that once he was in The Shroud, he could still detect magic; however, it cut him off from using telepathic or arcane means to anything outside its influence. But in here, he could still access his power. His travels soon led him to an apartment; he quickly took note of a second signature present. It was faded, both of them were; were they trying to ward themselves against him? If so, they'd done poorly. But he needed to make sure there wasn't a trap laid; brushing the cape of his cloak aside, he raised both arms with palms facing towards the door, their surfaces glowing with thin layers of orange-red light. "Salamandra, per os meum audire. Da mihi potestas sit ira plenas et procedent qui ante me stat decimari" he muttered; fire shot out and blew the door to shards, forcing Ricendithas to shield himself with his arm. No door traps would have survived that..Little did he know that he was in fact walking right into another one.

Stepping through the door once the debris stopped falling, he looked around and saw nothing; the unknown energy signature was fresh, but the other witch's was almost undetectable. "A residual...This must be an accomplice of hers" the warlock mused, miffed that he'd been led astray. He or she must have just left; were they expecting him? It was likely, given that he - out of a sense of commitment - let his only lead go. But maybe this could be useful; she seemed the compassionate sort. Friends could easily betray friends if given the proper....motivation. Of course, he had tread carefully; very few witches he'd known had friends other than other witches, so it was likely this unknown acquaintance was also a witch and therefore part of the local Coven. "Well, no one said this would be easy" he told himself; it seemed like this monster was a ghost. No one knew anything about it, and the accomplices they'd captured said nothing of use. For all anyone knew, this 'leader' could be a group. But that didn't matter; other Hunters were working as well, so he didn't brood on the lack of information. One way or another this demon was going to be killed. With that he stepped further into the apartment; all around him, the blast of fire had dissipated the unseen vapor, the heat he exuded from his body serving to let it stay distant from him for now. An open cabinet caught his eye; he moved towards it to see bottles of liquid stored within. He found a small vial towards the front that had a set of wings on it; he poured a little into his palm and spoke "Coque separatae essentiae unde sis mihi indicare". The liquid started to bubble and within moments, it began to vaporize as the magical flames started to decompose the liquid into its basic components. "Rosemary, sage, salt...Hold on" he muttered; there was a resonance within the vapor cloud. It was the same resonance as was present in the rest of the room; whoever it was definitely was a witch or warlock.

"Well, that complicates things" Ricendithas muttered; last thing he needed was to incite a Coven into hunting him. Not that he couldn't deal with them or fight back, but he'd rather avoid the hassle. As he turned to examine the rest of the apartment, he felt his boot crunch on something; looking down, he found a picture in a pink lacquered frame, the glass cover broken. He reached down and picked it up to examine it further; he almost instantly recognized the girl he was looking for. But there was another...A blond. And a curvy one at that; whoever took the picture definitely made sure to get a good angle to emphasize her body. "Well, hello...Are you the mystery witch who lives here?" the warlock muttered, a slightly perverted grin starting to cross his features; one of his shortcomings was that he was a sucker for a great body and a pretty face. He had no idea how much that would serve to bite him in this instance. Right as his thoughts turned to how he'd like to 'get closer' to the buxom blonde, the vapor trap slowly drifted closer to Ricendithas' mouth and nose; in one swift instance, a thin trail was inhaled. Ricendithas sensed it, a sweet alluring scent overpowering him; what was this? He then made the mistake of inhaling deeper to get a better idea, causing more of the potion to take effect. "What the hell is..." he thought, only to have his train of thought take a sharp detour. The first image was the blond held down beneath, her legs around his waist as he drove himself into her. He tried to blink it away, only to have it replaced with her sucking him off. "Crap!" Ricendithas swore; someone saturated this room with a lust potion of some kind. And now he was being overwhelmed with erotic mental images that he had increasingly difficulty in getting rid of. What made it worse was that his friend down under was starting to wake up as well; and given the protection he had it quickly became quite uncomfortable.

The warlock soon doubled over to his hands and knees, sweat forming as his brow as the succubi fluids began to overpower him; he needed to get to fresh air. Standing up he stumbled out of the apartment and onto the walkway; his hands grasped the iron guardrail, trying to hold himself steady. The cool night air helped clear his head a little bit, but if this was anything like that had been used on him in the past, he needed to find the witch that made this and get her to undo it. "Damn it....She's going to pay for doing this to me" Ricendithas growled; as much as it pained him, he needed help. Specifically, the Coven's help; their regulations forbade actions like this, though often it was up to the Chapter Master to how strongly it was enforced. Still...Maybe they might have a lead on where this witch was. And maybe the walk would help keep his new 'urges' in control; with that, he set off where he remembered the nearest Coven to be.

Turned out that the Coven was farther than he remembered; an hour's ride in a taxi that he'd had to bum a call from using a stranger's cell phone, all the while he tried to keep his condition hidden - for this, he was glad to have worn such heavy attire - and he arrived at the building. His mind kept it largely in control, but anyone skilled in reading expressions - a skill witches everywhere had at least a basic knowledge of - would tip them off to how he was suffering. Paying the driver, the warlock heard the cabbie mutter "Verrückte hurensohn" (Crazy bastard) before driving off. Ricendithas straightened out his cloak, then walked towards the main entrance of the building before knocking on the door; he just prayed they would be willing to help him. In an effort to control any ticks he might be experiencing, his hand fumbled with the photograph in his pocket of the witches from the poison-air apartment, something he'd taken to hopefully convince them he was a friend of hers or something.
 
The door was pulled open by an older looking woman. She appeared both ageless and elder, a bizarre and disconcerting combination and one that indicated she was quite old for a witch. She had dark hair, streaked with white and penetrating blue eyes. Her expression was one of practiced calm and neutrality as she looked over the rather haggard looking man before her. She carefully probed him with magic to see if she could determine if he was friend or foe and learned two important things. One, he was magical, a warlock most likely. The second is that he was one of Hannah’s victims.

The door opened wider and she called out something in German, two more women rushed forward and grabbed the warlock under the arms, pulling him into the building. There was a flurry of movement while the Coven witches brought him into a guest room and the elder barked orders, her calm now an expression of stern disapproval though it was obviously not directed at him. “I see you had a run in with our resident trickster.” The witch said in smooth English. “You must have scorned her greatly to earn the Black Rose as punishment.” She eyed Ric silently. “Unfortunately for you, that little witchling has far more talent than she deserves. We have been trying to find a counter to her vicious little potion to no avail. Only Hannah can remove it, or you need to wait it out.”

The witch sat in a chair across from him, completely at her ease. It was clear she did not suspect anything more than that he had crossed Hannah. The Coven was aware a hunter had been stalking Selena but they were so used to the protection of the Shroud none of them considered he would actually find the right area and none of them could ever have guessed he would actually approach the Coven for assistance. “You are welcome to stay here until the potion wears off but…” She frowned and steepled her fingers together. “I have seen what this does and if you attempt harm on any of the people present here we will stop you.” The elder explained. “Your second option is to find Hannah.” Her mouth twisted with distaste. “I...loathe to set you loose on her but Hannah has not learned through conventional punishments.” There was so much unsaid in that one statement.

It would appear the Coven was willing to turn a blind eye to whatever might happen should the warlock find the little witch. A young woman entered the room and handed the older witch a map with a red circle on it and a vial. As soon as Ric had entered the building they had begun scrying for Hannah and had quickly discerned her location. The blonde was doing nothing to cover her trail because while she expected punishment she did not expect the Coven to set one of her own victims on her. The witch stared levelly at Ric, holding the map in one hand. “If you take this, I ask only one thing from you. Do not kill her, do what you...must.” The witch swallowed and schooled her face back to neutral. “But please return her to us alive.” Finally she held the map and the vial out to the warlock, letting him make his decision. The vial was decorated with a black rose, Hannah’s very own mixture. It was a harsh punishment but the Coven had struggled to keep Hannah in line for many years, perhaps a taste of her own medicine might help.
 
Despite Ricendithas' current lust-addled state of mind, the warlock seemed to know better than to resist; it was standard witch practice after all. Better that the Chapter Master knows who exactly they're talking to, lest things get messy; and in his current state, he had to worry about other things. Like how he felt like his hard-on would just explode; his resilience made the hold on him weaker, but far from gone. Using the essence of a succubus was a tricky business, based on his own past experiences with mentors telling him about its effectiveness in love potions. One wrong move and the potion maker would go mad trying to find the succubus that the essence belonged to sate their lust.

Letting himself be pulled into the building, he soon found himself seated in front of the elderly woman who greeted him. The centuries she'd been alive...She was older than he, and that was saying something. Still, no mortal would EVER be able to guess how old she really was; even Ricendithas could not see. But that wasn't exactly important right now, as she then explained about Hannah's abilities and how she didn't deserve; of course, there was the warning of what would happen should he try anything. No one could fault the warlock for being stupid...A little careless, but even with his power he didn't get this far by blindly attacking Witch Covens. Especially not one as tightly knit as this; the fact that the elder witch was able to tell exactly which potion Hannah used showed that she ran a tight ship around here. Normal Witch Covens he'd encountered in the past were essentially embassies where witches and sometimes warlocks in distress could go to if they needed help, but this...This was a sisterhood. And it was obvious that Hannah had breached that pact of trust for some time now.

Now, Ric was usually forthcoming with his intentions; however, he knew that telling her why he sought Hannah out was out of the question. Had to assume every coven was corrupted now, under the thumb of this unknown figure that spread darkness across the land. Thankfully, it did seem that she was not interested in why...Only that Hannah was brought back to the Coven. Something he could do. And truthfully, the longer he sat here the higher the likelihood that he would be found out. "I assure you, I am not here to cause trouble. I only wished to talk to Hannah, but then she did this to me" he replied after she finished her explaining; of course he knew that if he took this assignment he would be honour-bound to spare this Hannah woman...But if she was the Venice witch's friend, then she could be useful in figuring out her location.

When she presented the map and vial to him, he just kind of looked at her; the way they were treating him. Had they been expecting someone to come deal with Hannah? Seemed reasonable, given the revelations about her; though it could also be he was here by chance. In any case, he needed this to stop; reaching forward with shaking hands, his body now experiencing nearly painful levels of lust and wanting for Hannah's curvy form, he took the map and vial. "I thank you for your help. She won't die, but she might be a little roughed up" he replied shortly; of course, with how his body was feeling, physical violence probably wouldn't result at all. From him at least. And with a great effort he stood once more and made his way out the door; the images were getting fairly graphic. Now they included her friend of all things, the very person he was trying to find in the first place! Hannah was pushing the nubile witch towards him, both bodies naked as the day they were born, making her take him in every way possible. Just what the hell kind of potion was the Black Rose, he thought. With that, he then asked "Could you...perhaps call a taxi somehow? I fear I won't be able to walk quite as well as I'd hoped; I didn't realize this potion of hers would be that effective".
 
The Coven supplied Ric with what he needed to reach Hannah’s remote location. Better than a taxi, the witch’s called their own personal driver and car. This served two purposes, it would bypass any traps Hannah set on the road (though the witches assured him this was unlikely) and should Hannah see the vehicle she would not expect what was coming for her. Hannah was surprisingly naive about her behavior, and while she frequently expected to be reprimanded the youthful looking witch never feared a harsh punishment.

In fact, she was so unconcerned Hannah never even set up a warning spell to announce the arrival of a vehicle. She was lounging on the deck in a large wooden chair, reading a book by the light from the window behind her and the myriad of candles along the rail of the deck. She had a steaming cup of tea resting beside her. Her own recovery brew for after a long binge to make sure she didn't permanently damage her body in her quest for fun.

She was a little surprised to see the sleek black car from the Coven rolling up the drive way towards her little hideaway. Only the Matron at the Coven knew this place, so as the car approached she rose lazily to her feet. There was a small flicker of annoyance across her features, only something serious would cause the Coven to send someone all the way out here to retrieve her but it also probably meant she was in the clear for her antics with Selena.

Hannah pushed her long blonde hair over one shoulder and leaned against the wooden beam holding up the overhanging roof of the cabin that shaded the deck on sunny days. She was dressed much like she had been when Selena had showed up on her doorstep. A plain white tank top and small shorts. She looked completely at her ease as the car rolled to a stop in front of her step, the light from the doorway shining on the tinted windows and shadowing her face.
 
The drive to Hannah's location was relatively uneventful; though the warlock was thankful that the privacy screen had been put up, because the images were getting clearer as well as more explicit. And Ricendithas had the strongest urge to tear off his pants and try to relieve himself of the pressure in his groin; however, his own stubbornness prevented him from doing so. But it wasn't easy, especially since now it was him and Hannah going at it like a couple of horny rabbits right here in the limousine. To think that all he did was think about it for even a brief second, and that damned potion did this much to him.

"Well, let's see how she likes a taste of her own medicine" he mumbled, fuddling with the black-labeled bottle to try and keep his mind clear. If she could brew this type of concoction, who knew what else she was capable of. "in Ordnung....We're here. Be careful; I know of Hannah's ploys and she can be a tricky mistress when she wants to be" he then heard the driver say to him, his German accent somewhat muted but still very much clear. "I'll keep that in mind" Ricendithas replied shortly; he wasn't trying to be rude, but his 'problem' was really being a pain in the ass. Luckily, the driver either understood his plight or didn't take offense to the warlock's short tone. The car then pulled to a stop, meaning they must have arrived. The privacy screen lowered and the driver handed a small scroll back to the warlock, "The Matron said you would know how to work this; she says use it when you are done and I will come to pick you up".

Ricendithas took the scroll and unraveled it; it was a simple beacon emission seal. When the user applied their magic to it and spoke the right phrase, it would send a signal to a specific individual. And the way it was written...This was certainly quite the spell. Even he would have difficulty tracing this. "Thanks...Here's to hoping it doesn't take too long" he stated, placing both the potion and the scroll into pouches beneath his heavy cloak. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he then stepped out of the car before the driver might get out to open it for him. Giving the roof of the limo a set of two taps, the driver took this cue and drove off. Ricendithas then stared at the cabin to see none other than the blond witch in the photo looking out to him.

"Hannah Krause, I take it?" the warlock called out, starting to walk towards her; he then added "You're a hard lady to find...I've been wanting to talk to you". "Among other things...Stop it, Ric! You can find a whorehouse later...Or make a whore out of her. Damn it!" His thoughts were getting really bad now. Plus it didn't help that she was dressed in such skimpy attire; her tank top seemed a tad small, revealing the size of her chest as well as an ample amount of cleavage. And her face...She was even cuter in person. And she had curves for miles everywhere else too; her short shorts certainly emphasized the roundness of her ass. Of course, it would be fairly obvious that he was checking her out; the way his one exposed eye roamed over her delicious figure would be hard for anyone to miss.
 
Hannah watched the man get out of the car and quirked an eyebrow. She wasn’t a novice and immediately recognized him as warlock, she could also tell he was potentially injured or incapacitated due to the way he was moving. Her eyes roam over him speculatively for a moment, satisfied that he did not appear to be a threat, her plump lips curved into an inviting smile. “And what exactly did you wish to speak to me about?” She purred, straightening up and stepping back onto the porch to make room for him. It was a bit concerning that the Coven had sent a warlock out here, she wasn’t sure if she should be worried about a punishment or worried that something had happened at the Coven. “Are my sisters well?” She added, feeling it was important to at least appear worried about her kin.

As he neared her, a conversation with Selena tickled at her mind but the details were lost in a haze of booze, drugs and sex over the weekend. Though it did give her cause to shiver and subconsciously take a wary step back from the man. The young blonde wondered suddenly if secluding herself in the woods had been such a good idea. Most times no one knew where to find her but if the Coven had given the man directions. She was very torn inside about how to deal with the situation. Hannah was not an upfront confrontational sort of person, she fought from the shadows with her brews and manipulation. In a head on fight, Hannah would surely be the loser.

He took another step onto the porch and Hannah saw his eyes roam hungrily over her body. While she was used to men, women, hell everything checking her out; she had also learned long ago to recognize the effect of her own potions on people. This warlock had indeed been hit with her Black Rose brew, most men lusted after a woman they had affection for, booze, drugs but occasionally in men with no attachments she had seen them fixate on the first person to peak their interest. Her eyes darted to the door of the cabin where she had an antidote that would eliminate the effects, he was probably too far gone to really care about the antidote at this point and if he was powerful the magic in his own body would continue to fuel the fire so to speak. Hannah did not want to be the object of desire for a warlock who could, more than likely, easily over power her.

He was almost near the top of the steps when Hannah tried to make a break for the door, she was hoping the potion would slow him down. It had to be hard to move fast with a raging hard on but what did she know...she darted past him and grabbed the handle of the cabin door, preparing to run inside and slam the door.
 
As he neared the buxom blonde, Ricendithas was finding it harder and harder to control himself; the object of his desire - brought out into the open by the effects of this witch's potion - was right in front of him. He knew he could overpower her, he knew he could take her...But he wasn't a rapist. No, that would make him no better than the monsters that he'd dedicated his life to hunting down and exterminating. Even the knowledge of how good it feel to finally have release, the mere couple of hours feeling like days of repressing himself....He would not succumb, he would not bow. "Your sisters are well...But there is someone you and I both know that we need to talk about" he replied, answering both of her questions and fueling the ember of fear within her.

Little did Hannah realize that this was the warlock who had been tracking her across three different countries, the one whom they'd talked about but she had forgotten; quickly, the illusions of his mind became an illusion of reality. This was getting bad; he needed to get her to cure him...Or else he might REALLY lose control. And it was made even worse when that trace of fear crossed her features, her eyes widening like a deer in headlights as she backed away from him. Damn it, she's more perceptive than I anticipated, he thought to himself; he'd hoped to be peaceful about this.

"Wait...Don't run" he then said as he noticed her glance to the door; she was going to try and lock him out. And he doubted he'd have the focus to conjure a fire spell to break the door down or even force it open in his state. But, unsurprisingly, she turned to the door and flung it open; however, with a surprising burst of speed, his body slamming into hers just as the door began to swing shut. Both of them were knocked down, Hannah landing on her back with Ricendithas on top of her, his heavy form between her opened legs and their chests mashed together as the door slammed behind them. It was just the two of them alone now.

Catching one of her wrists to prevent her swinging at him, lest he do something regrettable with the limited amount of control he could exert over himself. "Stop....struggling, damn it" the warlock grunted; she would not feel his turgid length pressing against her, even with their proximity due to the groin plate he wore beneath his cloak. But she would feel the heat of his body, even with the thickness of the cloak he wore; it was like he was a heater blanket, but could look at another. In fact, his one eye peered into hers, almost in a pleading fashion. Taking in a few ragged breaths, he then added, "Look.....I just want to ask you....about someone. But...your potion's making it really hard. To concentrate....Damn it all!" That little slip could easily be taken in a different direction, but he pushed on. "You made this...." he pulled out a bottle, one she would recognize, and said "You have an antidote, I know you must. If you can make a...brew, like this...there must be a counter. Give it to me....Before I lose control....And do something we both regret".
 
As Hannah darted for the door, the warlock lunged forward, his body slamming into her. She was knocked off her feet and found herself flat on her back just inside the door. The momentum of them flying through the doorway slammed it against the wall, causing it to bounce back and slam shut behind them. She gasped for air as the warlock landed on her chest, pinning her much more slender form to the floor with weight alone. Almost on reflex her hand swung up to push or claw at him but he seemed to anticipate such a move and snatched her wrist, holding it away from his body. His body was overly warm, far warmer than it should have been and his voice held a desperate edge that made her stop fighting for a moment.

Her eyes stared back into the one visible one of his. The potion was obviously having a really powerful affect on him and she didn’t want her struggling to further fuel whatever burning desire he had at the moment. “I...have it just in the cupboard there.” She said in a carefully calm voice, shifting her eyes to indicate where she meant. . She was trying to keep herself calm but she couldn’t help her gaze sliding to the potion bottle in her other hand. One thing she had always been extremely careful about when brewing that little number was not getting any on herself. She was well aware of her behaviour and was pretty certain her potion would have a pretty intense affect on her. Even now, with him pinning her to the floor, implying what he might do if she did not comply, Hannah’s masochistic behavior was making it hard not to egg him on just to see what he would do to her. That tendency heightened by the Black Rose would probably be the death of her.

She licked her lips nervously. “Who...who did you want to ask about?” Hannah asked in a soft voice, her eyes still on the bottle. “I know a lot of people...I’m sure I can….” Her voice trailed off and her eyes darted back to his. A warlock, powerful, one eye….The conversation she had with Selena came crashing back into her mind. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried very hard to keep her face neutral. There were not many people in the world that Hannah would willing suffer for but Selena was probably one of them, the other witch had been by her side for years now and no matter what antics Hannah dragged her into, her friend had always forgiven her. “I’m surprised the Coven wasn’t able to assist you.” She said in slow, wary tone, sweat popping out on her brow.
 
Ric was trying so damn hard to maintain control of himself; though with every second that passed, he felt his mind slipping more and more. Each little twitch of her nubile body, every breath that made her impressive bust shake beneath that skimpy top of hers, made him just itch to rip the clothes off of her and make her relive every naughty vision her little potion forced his mind to experience. Evidence of this was how his groin started to press more against her, pushing supple thighs further apart even though his state of dress would not let him really do anything.

"You do....Good. Guh....grab it and give it to me" the warlock replied; with great effort, he let go of her even though his desire for bodily contact was just so damn overpowering. And with further effort still, he pulled away from her and relieved her well-endowed figure of his weight. He then held out a hand to help her up to her feet; though when she might stand up, he made his body was maneuvered so that she would literally have to plow over him to get through the door. And he had a feeling that she wasn't all THAT strong physically...Of course, he'd been wrong before, but it wasn't all that often.

"I want...to talk about your friend Selena; she has something I want. Something I need...And she's nearly killed me....to keep it to herself. And as for the Coven...Their bringing me to you was assistance enough" was his response to her last statement. He then added, "Based on the short chat we had, it seems the Chapter..nrgh...Master isn't too fond of your antics; in fact, it was she who provided me with your location. She seemed to know what you had done to me...and was quite willing to send me over. Her only request was that I don't kill you. "Please....Trust me when I say I will not do such a thing; it's obvious you care about her. All I need from you is to find where Selena is at".

His body shuddered and he let out a loud grunt of discomfort, forcing him to double over and nearly fall to his knees; if he didn't get some relief soon, he might break. Through some deep breathing and mental forcing, he managed to regain most of his composure. He then held out his hand and stated in a more commanding tone, which still sounded a tad pathetic given the current nature of his duress, "Now, the antidote...Let me have it. So we can talk more civilly".
 
Once she was on her feet she backed away from him towards the cupboard where the antidote was. Hearing him talk about finding Selena made her skin crawl. He sounded sincere about simply wanting to talk to her but from what she remembered of her conversation with her friend Selena had no desire to have a run in with this man. She wrapped her hand around the small vial and turned to face the warlock, keeping her expression smooth. Hannah’s eyes wandered over him as he doubled over, grunting and holding out his hand.

She was at the moment outside his reach and he looked incapable of moving at the moment. “Selena told me about you.” She stated suddenly, a strangely pensive look on her face. Her hand tightened around the vial and she held it away from him, against her chest. A look of determination crossed her face and it was rapidly becoming obvious that the little blonde had no intention of handing the antidote over.

Hannah recalled all the times Selena had bailed her out of bad situations, saved her from others, from herself, taken the blame for things. Hannah was by no means the self sacrificing sort of girl but Selena had been like an older sister and if ever there was a time to repay the debt now was it. Her lips curved into a nasty smile. “I wonder how much longer before the potion cripples you.” She mused in a sing song voice, balancing the vial on one finger as she watched him. She was intentionally antagonizing him, the more she worked him up the faster the potion would work. Though with this one, getting his blood boiling might literally do that.

She twirled a strand of blonde hair around one finger and almost in slow motion let the vial tip from her finger. It flipped end over end once before smashing to pieces on the wooden floor, the liquid almost immediately evaporating. “Oopsy.” She quipped, though the humor did not reach her blue eyes. “I guess we’ll both have to suffer now.” Hannah added with a dark look.
 
Ricendithas had no idea what this woman was planning; he was trying to play a nice guy, who wanted some relief from a potion. Even though in truth his plan was to have her give him the antidote, then turn around and expose her to her own concoction. He doubted even someone such as she would be able to resist it; very few potion masters were immune to their creations after all. As she turned and looked at him, he saw her going from accepting in giving him to the potion to a look of conflict.

The reason was soon revealed. "Selena told me about you". Damn it, he thought to himself; that meant she probably knew who he was and why he was really after her. Evidenced of this further confirmed his suspicions when she grasped the antidote bottle closer to her chest. And her gaze hardening made him realize what she might do instead. "Don't you even think about it...." he warned, taking a shaky step towards her; too little, too late however. Her little taunt caused him to lunge towards her, just was the potion fell and shattered all over the floor. "NOOO!" he roared, his lips pressing to the floor with no avail to get the antidote. He even tried inhaling the fumes; however, it dissipated too quickly for him to get any appreciable amount into his system.

His eye did not reach her, his hood concealing an odd expression of mind-breaking lust and immense, fiery rage; the warlock sat on his knees, staring at the dark spot in the floor where the elixir that could have helped him. "You....you stupid bitch....This could have been peaceful. We could have talked like two normal casters....But no, you had to play hero". He then rose and stood to face her, his one eye leering at her with an intensity that might burn the soul, matching the look of darkness in her eyes. "You think you've suffered in the past....That will not compare to what I'm about to do to you now".

The black rose labeled vial was then held out in his hand, "You want to suffer though....Very well, we'll suffer together". His fingers uncurled and let the vial drop; instantly a black haze erupted from the shattered container and plumed out to expand into the room. With a surprising burst of speed despite his being crippled by the potion, his strong gloved hands found their way around the witch's throat and began to constrict. "This is only the beginning...Just remember you brought this on yourself" he growled, his hold tightening more and more. His chest heaved with the exertion of trying to focus on this current objective; he knew that he would soon slip...And become that which he never thought he would be.

After spending a few minutes holding her airway shut, his fingers starting to bruise the flesh on her neck, he finally loosened his grip; if things went the way they should...They both would become slaves to their desires.
 
Hannah had expected a violent reaction but she really had not believed that he would unleash her own creation on her. Her blue eyes widened with horror as the Black Rose vial shattered on the floor, a tendrils of black mist reaching into the air and seemingly snaking towards Hannah. She tried to step back in a pathetic attempt to get away from the infectious fumes. As one foot slid back, the warlock was suddenly on top of her. The furious look in his one visible eye and in the tone of his voice made her blood chill and a shiver run up her spine. She barely had time to cry out as his strong hands snapped around her neck.

As his hands closed around her throat, Hannah reached up and clutched weakly at his wrists, desperately trying to pry his hands away from her neck and gasping for air. She could feel his fingers digging painfully into her flesh, hard enough that bruises began to form on her pale skin. Black spots began to dance behind her eyes as oxygen failed to reach her mind. Just when she thought he was going to let her suffocate to death, his grip slackened slightly. It was enough that she instinctively sucked in a large gulp of air before her mind cleared enough to realize the gravity of the simple act.

Within seconds of her first breath of the potion, Hannah could feel the magic start to take affect. It was a peculiar feeling, like drinking a glass full of fireball whiskey. Warmth began to spread out along her limbs to all her extremities, particularly concentrated in any erogenous zones. Her fingers and toes felt oddly numb like she had ingested too much alcohol, even her mind felt pleasantly buzzed. Even her breath, coming in short pants, felt warm as it passed her slightly parted lips. Worse yet, the vice grip the warlock had on her throat slowly changed from painful to oddly pleasurable causing Hannah to squirm a little in his grip and moaning very softly.

The potion was designed to heighten a person's deepest desires. In someone like Hannah, one would expect her to become a party animal, since she desired a great many things. Due to the fact that Hannah frequently indulged in these pleasures already the potion dug even deeper to find what she REALLY desired. One of her darkest secrets that no one knew, not even Selena was that Hannah craved punishment. She desperately wanted someone to put her in her place, she had run unchecked for so long and no one seemed prepared to put an end to her antics. Until now.

The grip on her throat was likely the only thing keeping her on her feet and was like a twisted form of foreplay for her. The brusing hold only serving to make her more aroused to the point it bordered on painful. Her skin was very flushed and her eyes had taken on a slightly glazed look. “Please….” She managed to rasp out in a pleading whisper. “Please I want more…” It was an oddly cryptic message given her situation, though if the way she squirmed and rubbed her thighs together was any indication, it was pretty obvious what the blonde witch wanted.
 
Ricendithas smirked as Hannah inhaled the potion; good, that would make her feel as he felt. But how would it affect her, he wondered; any good potion master took great care never to let their product touch or enter their body in any way, shape or form. "That's it, little lamb....Breathe deep. Suffer with me" he whispered, loosening his grip more and more but keeping his gloved fingers near her throat. He could feel his mind slowly starting to break; parts of him were struggling to hold on, to not let himself lose control. But the Black Rose was a different concoction; it was fueled by magic itself, and with how strong the warlock's own was...He had no chance of fighting it off.

But when her eyes softened, glazed over even, Ricendithas found himself surprised; this only grew when she muttered about her wanting more. And with how her body was squirming, those lush thighs pressing against each other in obvious desire, she wanted a LOT more. "More....You want more? OK, Daddy will give you more....But how about this? I'm a little conflicted" he then added, his voice far less strained than before; in fact, there was a disturbing calm. "I really just want to fuck your brains out until you can't move, but I also need to find your friend Selena. Maybe I'll show her what a REAL warlock is like, hmm?" he then added, an evil grin crossing his features. Given that he already indulged in sex and monster killing, one trait that had somewhat laid dormant in Ricendithas - but had been exercised a couple of times - was his sadistic nature. And Hannah was about to experience that in full.

"Now then, here's what's going to happen. YOU....are going to tell me everything you know. And if I think you're telling the truth..." he paused to gently caress her cheek, like one would the love of their hearts, "I'll reward you....". His gaze then hardened, "But if you lie or I even suspect you're lying, I will break you worse than you've ever been broken". The back of his hand then came up and hit Hannah hard across the face, letting her fall to the ground. Bending over to grab her roughly by the hair, he then snarled as he pulled her head up "Do we understand each other?"

Before she might have a chance to reply, the warlock then grabbed her shoulders and threw her roughly onto the bed of the cabin. He then spoke, "Surge liga eam in hac mortali venite post me animi cupiditas", as he raised his hands before him; this wasn't a type of magic he used often, but one he had tried to practice with. At once, the sheets of the bed rose up like so many serpents around; a wave to the left sent a length of them beneath her shoulders, then to the right to bind her at the neck. Clasping his hands in front tied her arms behind her and secured them to the headboard. Raising them up and bringing them down simultaneously caused a portion to lift her legs at the bend of the knee and tie them to her shoulder restraints. More hand movements followed and soon Hannah found herself frogtied, her body still clothed but now allowing Ricendithas to explore as much of her as he pleased.

"Hmm!" he nodded in approving glee; now it was time for the fun to begin. "Too bad I don't have a whip....Or a crop. I love, LOVE, hearing the sound it makes on skin. And the squeal of delight that follows. But maybe...." He then turned and started rummaging through cabinets; eventually he came upon a single wooden spoon, which he inspected thoroughly to find no cracks or splinters. "Well...Not much, but I will make it work". Bringing his attention full circle, that nasty smile still on his lips, he added as he walked up to her, "Now then, my horny little bitch....Why don't we start off with something simple". He then roughly grabbed her left breast; even with his hands, he had plenty left over that bulged between his gloved fingers. Fabric and all. "Tell me, what size are you? Bet you had some guys trying to milk these fat tits of yours, right?"
 
Hannah barely had time to react to the sudden onslaught of abuse from the warlock. She barely heard him ask about Selena. The name was almost enough to bring her back to lucidity but the potion was too strong and rapidly pulled her back into its grasp. She shivered as he ran his fingers tenderly down her cheek, his words making her legs feel like jelly. The sudden crack across her face sent her reeling to the floor but did little to derail the arousal that was building in her body. He gave her no time to recover or reply to anything he said and in short order she found herself securely tied to the bed. Her eyes were watering from the hard slap he had delivered moments ago and she whimpered, the ropes keeping her in rather uncomfortable position. Despite this her traitorous body was enjoying every second. When he advanced on her with the wooden spoon a shudder of pleasure ran through her body and worse yet, as his fingers closed around one breast to squeeze roughly a small moan escaped her lips.

Given the way the potion affected her, abuse was exactly what she craved and it was pretty plain to see that the warlock was more than willing to provide it. Normally Hannah would have been quick answer his questions to save herself the pain. She wanted to answer him immediately but it was like someone else was speaking for her. Her lips curved in a sultry smile at him. “Why don’t you try and guess darlin’...” She whispered in a heated tone of voice, her blue eyes fixed on his one green. It was painfully obvious she was trying to provoke him. She strained ineffectually at the sheets binding her, wanting to run her hands over his body, to start peeling the aggravating amount of clothing he was wearing off his body but being at his mercy suited her just as well.

***

Selena tumbled out of bed late in the afternoon the night after Serov rescued her from the rave feeling much like roadkill must. Her whole body ached from dehydration, her mouth was pasty and despite showering last night she felt dirty. With a groan she pulled on the robe the Vampire had provide and wandered out into his home. It took her a while to realize Serov was probably still in bed for a while yet and went in search of water. Hannah’s damned potion had done a number to her body along with god knows what else she got into while at the rave. His kitchen was surprisingly modern and Selena was blissfully happy to see the water tap on the front of the fridge.

After downing several cups of water, Selena eventually stumbled on some coffee in the cupboard. She was surprised to see such human items in his home but she supposed he must have company occasionally. She suddenly flushed at her forward behavior the night before and wondered if Serov even dabbled in human partners at all. Shaking her head, she went about brewing a small pot of coffee. As the coffee percolated she wandered about the living room, peering at the books he had collected over the years. After selecting one and pouring herself a cup of strong coffee she headed out onto the balcony to read in the sun and wait for her vampire savior to wake up for the evening.
 
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