Thoughts of an unrepentant serpent. {open}

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Sabin sat on the rocks contemplating his next move. He knew the lock down was working but with Samuel still waiting in the wings, working behind the scenes and Hiero taking the point. It made him wonder what was Samuel's end-game. Hiero signed on to any and every cause quicker than most who lived through what they both lived through.

It had always struck Sabin as fascinating how childlike and filled with wonderment Hiero was. While on the surface he could understand wanting to believe in ones brother, however What they had built was way too much to risk for blind trust. Sabin knew of Samuel through business dealing and the like and he had the pension to take over a situation.


Sabin had given Samuel a wide birth as he did not want to place Hiero in the unenviable predicament of having to choose. This looks as if it may need to change as the Samuel has been making moves that Sabin was unsure if he likes as with the Bravo's. Sabin backed off trying to take over that family because it put Hiero in direct path and someone would get hurt, but it seems that if he didn't then Samuel would and that is a power base that Sabin could not and would not afford to lose.

Sabin did not want to cross swords with Samuel but he also did not have many options open for him. Sabin had been careful as to which information about the Bravotierlmo to including Hiero in on As Some of it could and quite possibly would lead back to Sabin or Samuel, but the closer that get to the main cell it is getting harder and harder to keep Hiero in the dark. Hiero might even want to kill Sabin if he knew that he was getting feelers from black marketers for Lycanthropic strains. While it is still considered a disease, A market for the perverse is developing and getting a stranglehold on the trends and black market was normally Sabin's bread and butter.

Sabin stared out into the darkness of the lakeshore. Even if he did began selling lycanthropy He would start out with selling the omega level supply then to select clientele maybe beta level which will keep the clients coming back for the new and improved. But before that Sabin needed to know if he could increase the power of an already infected so I can sell an "improved formula" That would basically re-infect the carrier with a stronger strain of the same virus. Also ultimately If I can do that I can also power down an infected with a weaker strain, and finally purge or disable the virus all together.

Sabin let his mind wander as to what it would be like to finally put this all behind him and go home.

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Alexius had the car service drop her off for her trek along the lake front. She started out in her wheel chair. There was a covered bike rack where she stopped and locked up her wheel chair pulling the cover back down. She at least made sure she had her wallet on her. Dressed warmly she stretched muscles that were not normally used groaned as she moved. This was a luxury she wouldn't trade for the world. It was the one reason she had chosen this path. A sad smile crossed her features.

At first she walked looking out are the water as she did so. Her pace languid. She stopped at some point just drifting in her pace staring out. No one she knew came here. Which was a small blessing at least here she could unbend a little between the lake and herself there were very few secrets more than a few tears were shed in the silence with that water as her company.

Though she had close friends there were things she just couldn't share with them. This was the one place she let her shields down in a minor way allowing her to feel everything.

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Sabin,still with eyes closed, rolled his head back and began breathing though his mouth. He enjoyed moments like this as it allowed him to slip into deeper breathing and meditation. With the curious byproduct of his nature, he could scent any who chose to get close to him. It was only a few scant moments before his tongue was set to tingling as someone who wielded magic was close.

Sabin locked his shields in tightly. It could be anyone or no one at all, but it is always better to be safe and cautious than reckless and dead. His eyes snapped open focused from the time in darkness and by the adrenaline of a possible threat he scanned the darken area. As luck would have it, the area was clear of any people except something or someone with an unsteady gait over by the parking area.

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Alexius Drifted in steps and in mind not really wandering mainly just pacing she wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings really. She felt the pull towards something but she wasn't certain what so she was fighting that one. The last few years went rushing through her mind. Her shops becoming brick and mortar the online business taking off the way it did. Losing him and then loosing the other. She shook her head to herself. Plugging in a pair of ear buds the electric green cord winding down to the strap on her thigh. She started walking after hitting play. The sounds of tears of laughter began to echo through the set.

She huddled back into her jacket, for a little bit she didn't think about anything beyond putting one foot in front of the other she just let her feet take her where they would she worked on clearing her mind. She took a breath and sighed feeling first the one and then the next. She wiped at her face before realizing the stress was getting to her and that she had started to cry. It figured after her conversation with Gates via text. She still wasn't paying attention and didn't know she was moving towards what had been drawing her towards it.

She had only a few choices now, none of them were really appropriate save for the one. She wondered if she could find someone willing to work long term and be the one to run the stores and be the face of the business. She couldn't abandon him though, and strangely she felt the pain of his prison. She doubted she could handle a few hundred years of this. She saw a way out but it meant manipulation and she didn't like having to lie about not being able to walk due to her disease. Sure she looked the picture of health. But she knew the damage she had before the agreement she wouldn't of been able to walk again even with a miracle through medical science. She could feel how she had changed. She could feel his darkness there just behind her eyes. Shaking her head she stumbled slightly into something.

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[glow=red,2,300][/glow]

Digs

Sabin watched a the figure made its way alone towards him, He stood on guard, thumb on the hilt of shalpha Just in case this became one of 'those' nights. His Tongue told him magic user with a hint of dead about the figure. Much like Tak which was strange as Tak had been gone for years now. As the figure got closer, Sabin began to make out details it was female for better or worst. There was no smell of blood on their person, at least not open wounds.

As it got closer the body came into even more into view. It was a person that walked with an unsteady gait she moved slowly almost methodically closer it wasn't until it was nearly within striking distance that the green head cables streaming from the females head, Sabin finally was able to place the scent of the person, it was Esme, Sabin thought she was dead or at least in the fey realm or where ever Witches went.

Sabin Watched carefully as she moved she looked healthy...er he was in amazement as she move it should not have been possible for her to move the way she did. Sabin was so drawn in by her recovery that he did not even bother to stop her from colliding with him..He grabbed her shoulders to brace her from tripping and falling onto the ground.

"Esme, I see you are doing well? you need to be careful you almost hurt yourself."

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As soon as she felt the hands that caught her two things happened simultaneously, her shields slamming into place and fear washing over her at hearing her name she froze. She'd been to lost in thought she shouldn't have been no one she knew came out here. Panic and fear begun to crawl its way up her spine.

She pulled her head phones her hearing having become more sensitive the volume was barely there, so she heard him use her nick name. Giving her warning to the potential she almost injured herself with. She started to tremble fingers winding into her headphone cable and she actually started to pale. It was him she had felt drawn to that kept tugging her because he was so close by and she had lowered her guard.

"I'm sorry...Sabin" the tremor shook her voice her accent becoming even thicker. She felt the cold settle into her. How was she supposed to react right now... Someone she knew now knew she could walk. She was healthy even though she still tested for the disease. Medically she shouldn't be walking and she had continued to lie that she couldn't, so that she wouldn't have to explain where science had failed the supernatural has succeeded. She wondered now what Sabin had learned while she stood unprotected.

She stepped back wards slowly at first and she turned going back the way she had come. Her gait had started to even out little by little. Right now she was more afraid of the fact that Sabin might actually know now but it was a fear mixed with hope and relief that someone knew. Part of her didn't care that someone else finally knew, there was more relief than there was fear in that aspect. The other part of her was terrified. Could she trust him. She didn't know. Who would he tell? The council would try to have her killed like they were trying with Tak. She made this choice when she was laying wasting away, because she could do nothing against the disease that wracked her body. Now someone knew. She'd managed the secret this long. Was it worth the peace of mind and the terror for him to know?

She continued her pace going back to the bike racks where she had left her wheel chair.

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Sabin released Esme, it had been a long time since he had been to her shop. He had knew she was in a wheel chair due to a disability. she even had the taste of the infirmed. Now she tasted like power many different types of power.. she tasted of death and decay... He could taste his teacher in the air. Sabin begin to look around...for Tak. Tak who left bits of magical darkness on his soul from he shared his power with me. Of course his price was very high but his power just as great.

The ghost of so many monsters of the past reared their heads. Sabin was set suddenly on edge, If Tak had come back to town then the other monsters who drove him off would be hot on his heels. All the guns and ammo Sabin had would not stop those beast if they came back this way. How did Esme factor into the equation though? That was the question the Sabin asked himself as he looked at the once broken doll that was Esme.

"So I take it the Vitamins are working?" Sabin said with a smile. The power that flowed off Esme mingled with the darkness left inside Sabin causing a strange feeling in the quiet place where his beast resides. Sabin's beast was oddly still not afraid just very cautious. Sabin knew that feeling it was the same feeling he got when a different beast of equal power came around. The voltage that Esme was releasing was almost living it was so much more than she had before.

"So what have we been up to? The shop doing okay?" Sabin waited, watching her carefully to see if she would be honest, she was definitely a new player in the game.

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Esme froze, taking a couple of breaths she actively cleared her mind. Shaking off the warring emotions in herself she glanced back at Sabin. She couldn't have stopped the tears that flowed down her face.

"It depends. They slowed things then the FDA banned them as usual on most experimental treatments. And then I was all but dead bound to a bed. He simply chose the right time to ask a question. I made a choice. A selfish one, but it was a choice none the less. I still use my wheel chair though. It's locked up down at the bike rack." Her voice cracked slightly on the last word. Was she happy with the choice she'd made yes. However she was to much of a selfless person to be able to live the webs of deception.

She swallowed a few times, blinking rapidly. Realizing this was the first time outside of her dreams that she had someone to remotely talk to about all of this.

"The Shop is actually better than ever. Into the Bean now has two locations and my web store for herbs, has a brick and mortar store front. I still help with Into the Bean, but I am now at Satyr's Grove more frequently than ever. I realized I haven't heard from anyone in a long while now. I guess I had myself so busy that I wasn't able to think. So I didn't realize how miserable or lonely I felt due to it."

She shook her head slightly and smiled. This wasn't the version of her he knew or even knew of. She focused more on containing herself instead of leaking about like a sieve and flaunting herself about.

"I am sorry I am such a mess Sabin. I have never been deceitful by nature. And I didn't realize until now just how much it was weighing on me."

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Sabin listened in silence, He wanted to interrupt her because he knew that she was baring more of herself than she meant to, however the look in her eye, the inflection of her voice told him she needed this purge more than even she knew. It was a cleansing an unloading that she was doing, of her secrets. Sabin thought to himself what would he had done in the same situation? He would have locked himself into his fort, released a horde of mice into his home, shifted and hunted and killed until he felt strong enough to handle his problems.

Sabin moved to hold her into an Embrace as he knew not what else to do for her. She needed someone to tell her it was okay. but she smelled like death itself with the underpinnings of a dragon. Sabin had know idea how a human could smell of vampire and Dragon. Esme said it was a selfish choice. To Sabin it was the only choice. He wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace and whispered into her ear.

"There is no shame in wanting to live. If I had the choice I would do the same if not more."

Sabin had a sour smile on his face as he released her. Society is more accepting of vampires then of lycanthropes, Sabin thought to himself. Sabin watched as Esme composed herself, It was a heartfelt process. Somewhere in the part of his soul where he remembered the pieces and parts that kept him human. He could completely understand her pain. He wanted to say what something to comfort her but he knew ultimately he would fail so instead he stayed on a topic she could grasp and hold fiercely too instead of one that was weighted down in emotions that she was currently struggling to keep a hold of.

"I am glad your businesses are doing well. I will need to stop by for some of you more exotic items. There is no reason to apologize Esme. I find no offense in you. Be glad you have a second chance, many with your infliction have only found the cold embrace of Death."

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Esme didn't refuse the embrace, she actually let her arms slide around him in return. Taking the hug for what it was. The comfort of reality. Something beyond the hollowness of her dreams.

She nodded at his whispered words. She was reluctant to let go. She felt something screaming inside when she let him pull away. He was warm. "It was still a selfish decision. Made with consequences. I just had no idea I would end up so alone with them. "

She shook her head a bit to clear it tucking her hands into her pockets. "I have truly made myself a nuisance to you tonight. Unloading all of my baggage on you. "

She laughed slightly when the words about death struck her. " Oh the shops are doing great. I know I have more than a few things that would intrigue you. Well plants not of this world. I wonder what benefits they may yield. Holistically they have many uses already. It heartens me that I have not offended you.. There's no mistake I am great-full for my second chance. He truly took me from deaths arms. As much as a gift I was given. It has proven to be a very complicated burden. "