She shall leave as she appeared... suddenly. Her head hung she walks up in front of everyone.
"I am here to resign and tell you all farewell. I have no reason to stay in Cascadia... so I am off, my sister has asked me for a while that we find a home for ourselves... so I shall go and find us a haven closer to our homelands. Thank you all for being so great to me. I would to leave on good terms with you all... but I know I won't. So. I will leave you with this thought."
A card falls to the ground, then she walks away.
The card reads "Goodbyes are fun, farewells are fond, you live your life in a whirl of new people, new places, but the only thing you have to deal with everyday for eternity is yourself." ~Diam

Farewell,
Drink the blood of the rose,
Diam Ravyn Mystiry Bloodstaff Scarponi-Manicott

Sorenti looked down at the desk in front of him at this news....well...bombshell from Miss Bloodstaff. Raising his head slightly, he watched her walk to the door of the Council rooms, having just proclaimed Karl as Whip and announced her leaving the city. She was without her usual refined gait and the dress she wore bore no accessories, her fingers no rings, her neck no ornate necklace. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The door closed behind her and the click of the mechanism made Sorenti jump, he looked around quickly to make sure nobody saw him, but they were all still looking at the door. She had said her concern was for her sister and that they sought a haven nearer to their homelands....all very plausible, Sorenti mused, but again, something not right.

Throughout the rest of the meeting and later, when he got back to Blenheim, he turned away from his paperwork and recounted everything Diam had said in his mind. The words were spoken with enough sincerity, no hint of anything in her voice, but still something nagged at him. He concentrated and saw her in his mind....somewhere he had seen someone else with that same look...but where?

As he sat pondering....his eyes wandered the room lazily...the antique grandfather clock he had brought over from London, the statuesque standard lamp from Berlin, the mahogany, marble-topped desk from Milan, the gold leaf photo frame from Paris, the damn modern computer in an otherwise ancient room. Sorenti sat back in his chair and took out a cigar from the silver case, he lifted it to his lips and lit it gently with a match he struck on the side of the desk.

Sorenti puffed on it tenderly and shook out the match. As the smoke furled upwards, his eyes followed it and then he found himself looking straight at the answer. He had looked at the photo frame, but not at the photo in it and it was this that held his attention so rigidly now. He was looking at the same eyes, holding the same look that Miss Bloodstaff's had. He sat bolt upright, his eyes not moving from the photo as his hand reached for the phone.

He dialled quickly, still unable to look away from the photograph, his eyes locked with those of the figure it portrayed. The figure had the identical look in the eyes, the absence of jewellery where usually it was plentiful, the playful fire and stance gone....his thoughts were broken off as a voice answered on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"
"Sorry it's late, you mobile?" Sorenti asked
"Ummm...can be sir, gimme five, why? what do you need?"
"Just a small favour Bill, up to it?"
"Sure thing boss, where do you want me?"
"Get yourself down to IntelCon, I need a complete trace, the usual" Sorenti replied sharply,
"Got it....person? vehicle? business?"
"person...Kindred, the details will be there when you get there Bill...make it quick!" Sorenti barked
"Sure thing sir, on my way now, I'll contact you when I get there"

Sorenti hung up the phone and sat looking at the photo, a dark frown crossed his face as he remembered what had been on the mind of the one in the photo.

Diam and Tesh had not gotten far from Cascadia when Diam took a bundle with two rings and a necklace in it, and set it outside the cemetary outside of Cascadia. A note is attached to it.
"If this is found, please send to Valek of Cascadia... if he does not recieve it, there will be hell to pay.
-Diam"

With that, she didn't care anylonger what happened to the jewlery. She probably could not care less about it. A sword still heavy under her cloak slung across her back. She would have given that back, but it was hers completely, and it was not a petty gift either.

She and Tesh traveled on. Her entire being empty. Tesh stays quiet, not knowing what has happened or why they left just as she was getting used to Valek and his odd ways. She dared not speak though... she had never seen pain in her sister's eyes like this... never in all of thier lives. Not even when her parents had ripped them appart and sent her sister away to the nunnery. Never.

((Ill post something soon too
Its really sad to see you go Diam :(
You are a REALLY great rplayer,if you ever want to come back theres a spot for you for sure. ))

_________________
We live to die...and die to live...And whom so ever beleiveth in me...shall never die...and shall live in eternal life as the undead..

[url]http://www.geocities.com/soc_valek_darkside/entrance.html[/url]

[ This Message was edited by: Valek on 2001-11-05 01:29 ]

When Valek annouced Diam that he was leaving her...he said

"More then one time you tried to leave me Diam...over what i deem to be stupid reasons....Even i...Valek...it did hurt me to see you wanting to leave me more then once....And i got in troubles more then one time for your actions,the lack of respect you often have for others,caused me troubles,the lack of respect when walking in other kindred haven's or office's caused me troubles as well..."

Kiya was there at this moment when it was happening and she said
"Valek means MY office..."

Valek then continued to talk and said
"Now...before i get hurt again,i came to a conclusion...."

Diam said
"So your leaving me?"

Valek replied saying
"Yes...indeed im leaving you..."

Diam replied
"Fine..."

And Diam then exit the room...without saying anymore words...not even a sad expression on her face....

Somehow Valek knew he made the right choice.....

((Yeah.... you posted the same thing twice Valek... when you posted it on this board it didn't really make sense))

::cries, crimson tears falling into his precious teacup::

((I did post it twice so ppl would be sure to read this too lol,so they know the whole story lol))

Sorenti gripped the photoframe, his knuckles turning white as the picture brought the past back to life in his head. Then slowly and deliberately, he slid the photo into his middle drawer, covered it with some documents and locked the drawer. He stared at the drawer for a few seconds before shaking himself and standing. His office was unnaturally quiet and he could perceive no movements in the corridor outside. Taking his jacket off of the back of his chair, he slipped his arms into it as he exited his office.

He walked quickly to his car, checking his weapons were still in place once he got there. As he drove, memories of a certain Dhampir flooded his mind, he saw the guilt, the tears, the pained expressions, it was all he could do to focus on the road. After a while, the thoughts relented, but his gut feeling was still there, tearing at his insides like a hot poker of ancient times. Sorenti swung the car into the parking lot, locked it and almost burst into the huge building with it's low lighting casting an eerie glow in the halls.

A head popped out of a room further down the hall and Bill motioned him in. Not a word passed between the two as Bill laid out papers, DVD's and a thin folder on the table. Sorenti flicked through them with an appreciative nod, wondering how Bill always managed to seem so fresh and alert, knowing he could have had an hour's sleep at the most. He gave a questioning look at the DVD's and Bill slid them into the overhead player obligingly.

The two sat back and watched the footage from the various cameras in and around Cascadia, given to the city by the Ventrue and Nosferatu by way of "aiding the police". At least that was their story, since the actual benefactors were, of course, anonymous. They saw fleeting glimpses of Diam and a young lady Bill said was Tesh, Diam's sister. Sorenti followed the direction they were taking, noting the graveyard, but always seeing the look and posture of Diam...still his gut feeling nagged at him.

Sorenti stood, attaching a radio microphone around his neck, he pressed it and spoke as Bill adjusted the dials on the receiver until his voice rang out clearly. Sorenti nodded to Bill, passing him his steaming hot mug of coffee before heading out, bound for the graveyard and on the trail of Diam.

Diam and Tesh stop in a small village just outside of Cascadia. She couldn't go any further that night... though it was still hours until sunrise.
She paid for three rooms. One between hers and Tesh's, all three connected. She used her old name... Diana.
She sat in her room quietly. She looked at her hands, thinking of the beauty they once created, thinking about all they brought now was pain. Her heart was shattered, her world was shattered... she didn't want to live anymore. For the first time in years she truely broke down, she cried and cried and cried... just laying on the bed.

The rain spattered onto Sorenti's face as he walked, he could see the graveyard up ahead, looming ominously with it's dark tombs like small skyscrapers against the night sky. He had seen Miss Bloodstaff and her companion stop there by one particular grave, Diam had put something down and it was this Sorenti sought.

He put a hand on the old gate to push it open when the view before him began to swim, the ground tilting violently to the left. His knees buckled and he clung to the gate for support as images flashed into his mind, Gabriel crying, Liya...Garou...

"Nooooooooo!" Sorenti cried out as the world circled him like he was drunk,
"Liya!....dear God...noooooo!"

Slowly the images ceased and the world stopped it's spinning, leaving him with an empty sense of despair, it seemed the Ventrue curse was striking again. In his mind, the curse played out in full as the Ventrue poured into his head...
Darius
Paladin
Leila
Leo
Isaac
Courtney Blair
Tromador
Mephisto
Liya
and with Syd missing....how many more were yet to suffer, Sorenti wondered, he shivered with the thought and pushed open the gate.

Then next evening Diam travels on. Her sister remaining quiet. Still not traveling fast, or too far yet, she looks back on the high buildings of Cascadia. She wants to return, but there is an emptiness in her that must be filled. She hated herself for this. But she didn't know how else to handle her situation. She immersed her self in books and looking after her sister.

((just want to let you know im still reading this.. keep it up.. excellent thread.))

((hehe.. thanks!! It makes me feel good to know that some people are still interested in what is going on with Diam))

Sorenti walked through the graveyard, following Bill's directions in his earpiece. Very soon he came upon the small package Diam had left for Valek. He studied the contents for a while, his frown darkening as he turned the jewellery over in his hands. As he stood in silence, mulling over the meaning to Miss Bloodstaff's actions, his soul leaped out of him when his cellphone screached its existence to the night.

To a passer-by, it might have seemed strange to see a well dressed gentleman standing amidst graves of old, talking on his cellphone, but to Sorenti, he wouldn't have cared if the entire force of Sabbat and every tribe of Garou were bearing down on him. The quiet, ominous voice on the other end had chilled Sorenti to his very core, he stood whiter than sheet paper and motionless as any statue...