Slowly Sorenti's spasms subsided, the blood sweat formed rivers down his chest and back. Estelle lit another cigarette, poured herself a glass of water and smirked cruelly while sipping it, waiting for her "patient" to gather his frayed nerves. Through the red mist of pain, Sorenti saw her smirk and in his mind it widened to a huge, animalistic grin, similar to the Joker in the Batman film. Sorenti's lips were writhing, finally he got out the word in a harsh croak,

"Drink" he said,

"Oh of course, my dear boy, how thoughtless of me" Estelle crowed and poured some water into the other glass. "We certainly must keep your tongue lubricated" she added with a snicker. She laid the handle of the carpet-beater down on the floor between her slender legs and rose from her chair. She moved behind Sorenti and wrenched his head sharply back with a fistful of his hair. She poured the water down Sorenti's throat in small mouthfuls so he would not choke, then she released his head so it fell forward onto his chest. She then returned to her chair and picked up the carpet-beater again.

Sorenti forced his head up and spoke thickly,

"Map no good to you" he croaked out, "is a fake"

Exhausted by the effort, his head sank forward again, he was a little, but only a little, exaggerating the extent of his physical collapse. Anything to possibly gain a little time and certainly anything to defer the next searing pain from the seemingly ordinary tool she used.

"Oh, well in that case," she crooned softly, "why don't you just be a good boy and tell me where you've hidden it? Then we can see for ourselves whether it is fake or not, you see...we have all the time in the world to find it, if we go on a wild goose chase first, so be it, we have nothing to lose."

"But people....will trace me...to here... eventually, if...you...kill me, they will... be...after you." Sorenti managed, his usual eloquence gone completely.

"Ah, my dear boy, I had forgotten to tell you, since you are known to like the odd gamble, you came here under invite and we played poker...you lost all your money and were so upset, you left immediately for an unknown location. Which leaves me in the clear, got it? Good!" Estelle countered venomously. "Now, shall we continue? I have all the time I could wish for and truth be told, I am rather interested to see just how long a man can stand this particular form of...errr...encouragement." she said, rattling the cane on the floor to add its threat.

So, that was the score, Sorenti thought with a sinking of the heart. The "unknown destination" was most likely a pile of ash, swept up and blown away on the wind. Well, if he had to die anyway, he might as well try it the hard way, he had no hope that anyone would get to him in time. The longer he could keep this torture going, the more chance there was for someone to find him. It was a choice of evils, but the longer Estelle continued the torture, the more likely he was to be revenged and with that, his mind was set.

Sorenti looked up at her, trying to study her features,

"You a Torrie right?" he questioned,

"Not that it matters to you, but yes I am and proud of it" she stated officiously.

"Strange....behaviour for one of yours...isn't it? all this torture I mean" he forced out.

"I don't think you are in a position to question me, boy." she said as she set to work again with savage fury, occasionally snarling like a wild beast. After ten hellish minutes, Sorenti had fainted, blessedly and it had come with a swift, warm embrace, swirling him down into darkness. Estelle immediately stopped, she looked at her watch and seemed to make up her mind. She got up and stood behind the limp, dripping body of Sorenti. She seized his ears and harshly twisted them, then she leant forward and slapped his cheeks hard, several times.

Sorenti's head rolled from side to side with each blow, an animal groan came from his lolling mouth. Estelle took her glass of water, poured some in Sorenti's mouth and threw the rest in his face. Sorenti's eyes slowly opened. She returned to her chair and waited, lighting yet another cigarette and contemplating the spattered pool of blood under the inert body opposite. Sorenti groaned pitifully, it was an inhuman sound but his eyes opened and he gazed dully at his torturer.

"Ok, last chance, either tell me where the map is, right now, or say goodbye to it, your choice" she snarled at him.

Gabriel sat mulling over various appointments. He felt a small tingle in his groin. Glancing about to make sure no one was watching, he scratched it.


((there's my two cents! :smile:

((hmmmm interesting posts Sorenti ::grin::
PMSL @ Gabriel :lol:

~batty~

((Yep cool post man

LOL @ Gabe ))

_________________
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/entrance.html[/url]

[ This Message was edited by: Valek on 2001-10-08 12:24 ]

((LOL @ Gabe

It was extraordinary to hear the third voice, for the hour long ritual had only demanded their two voices amidst the terrible noise of the torture. Sorenti's dimmed senses hardly took it in, then suddenly he was halfway back to consciousness, he found he could see and hear again. He could hear the dead silence after the one quiet word from the doorway and see Estelle's head slowly rise, her expression of blank astonishment slowly giving way to absolute fear.

"Enough" the voice had said quietly.

Sorenti could hear slow, soft but deliberate steps approaching from behind his chair. He tried to turn, to see who or what had spoken, but the nerves in his body screamed at him and forced his head back onto his chest.

"Drop it!" came the voice again.

Sorenti saw Estelle's hand open and a small knife drop with a clatter to the floor. He tried desperately to clear his senses and read into Estelle's face exactly what was happening, but all he saw was blind incomprehension and terror. Estelle's mouth worked, but only a small "Eek" came from it, her cheeks trembled as she tried to collect enough saliva to speak. Her hands fluttered vaguely in her lap before making a slight movement towards her pocket, but they stopped quickly. Her round, staring eyes had lowered for a second and Sorenti guessed there was a gun trained on her.

Finally Estelle gathered enough nerve to speak,

"What do you want from me, what do you want with this scum?" she garbled, indicating Sorenti at the last part.

"That is none of your business, wench, but are you the one who has tortured him or not?" The voice replied just as softly.

Sorenti wrestled with his consciousness, he screwed up his eyes and tried to shake his head to clear it, but his whole nervous system was numbed and no message transmitted to his muscles. He could just keep his focus on the pale face in front of him, the bulging, shock-ridden eyes and the blood sweat beginning to form. A thin string of saliva crept from Estelle's mouth and hung down to her chin.

"Well?" asked the voice,

"Well, yes I am...but I was only..." she replied

There was a sharp "phut", no louder than a bubble of air escaping a tube of toothpaste, no other noise at all, and suddenly Estelle's voice was cut off. She had grown another eye, a third eye, on the level of the other two, right where her nose began to jut out from her forehead. It was a small, black eye, without eyelashes or eyebrows. For a second, the three eyes looked out across the room and then the whole face seemed to slip and go down on one knee. The two outer eyes turned trembling upwards before the body lurched sideways, over the arm of the chair, like she was going to be sick.

In the outer room, the two mortals lay with their heads on the table, the cards stuck to their faces with their own clotting blood. On their faces were looks of mirth, probably from some joke they had just shared. Neither showed panic, pain, nor fear, but then, neither of them saw or heard a thing before the Reaper came calling.

Steps moved round to behind Sorenti's right shoulder, he felt the slightest of touches and his chest hurt like it was being burned. The pain was too much and Sorenti drowned in the sweet darkness of unconsciousness once more...

Sorenti awoke late the next evening. Without opening his eyes, he could faintly hear voices and strained to decipher the argumentative whispers. As his head began to clear, he distinguished them easier and one he recognised as Bill Tanner, his head of security. Sorenti breathed a sigh of relief at hearing his voice, but the other? it couldn't be? surely he was dreaming? The voice crawled through him with its eloquent, yet deep, throaty sound. He knew it so well, yet the sheer disbelief he felt at its owner being present, prevented the face from coming into his mind.

Like lifting two 20 tonne weights, Sorenti dragged his eyelids upwards, pleased to find his eyes immediately adjust to the dim lighting. He searched for the projectors of the whispers, but saw from shadows that they were just outside the small room he was in. He relented to sweeping his eyes around the room, long, velvet drapes, a horrible magnolia on the walls, the smell of disinfectant and the white, neat bed he lay in could have been a hospital room but for one thing...the room was lit from sunken alcoves in the walls, proudly bearing candles, giving the image of a room in a castle almost.

Sorenti coughed lightly and, as expected, a head shot round the door. Bill grinned at him and then whispered something to the other who slowly walked in with his head bowed, wearing a cowl. As Sorenti tried to penetrate the shadows of the hood, the head slowly lifted and two strong arms drew back the cloth. The face slowly shook from side to side, with a slight smirk on the small mouth,

"Well, well, well," the figure said, "My dear errr...Prince now isn't it?" with a laugh "How the devil are you old man? Feeling better yet? You were in quite a state when I found you"

"Ahhh so i..it w..was you that saved me then?" Sorenti said, still deep in utter disbelief.

"I'm afraid I would have to admit to that one, yes" came the reply.

"B..But H...How did you....?"

"Find you?" the figure finished for him with a deep chuckle, "Elementary my dear Sorenti, the day I give up following you will be the day I die"

"My God man it is good to see you again...but why have you not contacted me before now?" Sorenti replied as he edged out his incredulity.

"Ah well, you have had much to contend with and you have not needed me until now. You needed me, here I am, like I said I would, remember?"

Sorenti nodded slowly, "I do remember, yes, I even still have your cell phone number somewhere."

"Anyway" said the figure, "we don't have too much time for niceties, we have work to do, so get your butt out of that bed....sir, oh and by the way, we have the map, so thankyou for that"

Sorenti looked at him with a questioning look,

"It's ok, we had someone delve into your thoughts while you were out cold, we couldn't wait, it wasn't safe to"

Sorenti nodded slowly and was about to ask who they had found capable of penetrating his thoughts, when a third figure emerged from the corner of his room, apparently out of nowhere. She gracefully seemed to float over to the bed and Sorenti embraced her dearly. Her scab encrusted, withered arms clung to him as if he were her child, she kissed his forehead tenderly, her lips rough on his skin.

"Maria, my dear" was all Sorenti could manage, a little choked at her presence as it was such a rarity for her to be seen by anyone and he knew how she hated "public" appearances. She bent over him and whispered in his ear,

"Forgive me for intruding into your mind, my dearest Orento, but it was necessary."

Sorenti nodded and smiled reassuringly that it was quite alright, then he slid his legs out from the bed as she released him. Tentatively and a little shakily, Sorenti managed to stand, strength slowly returning and knowing they had more work to do yet.

((Man...once again a great post :smile: ))

((tyvm man...I am really rushing this lol....just so it is right at the point where I can get back to Cascadia (and back in game lol)

The night air was cold and for the first time in his recollection, Sorenti felt its harshness on his skin. With much help from Maria's dressing his wounds, Bill running to get him blood and the other casting strange healing spells, Sorenti's strength had returned somewhat, but he was nowhere near his former self. Sorenti looked at Maria as she vanished into thin air, he had not been to see her as often as he would have liked to and he dare not mention her existence for fear of letting out her secret.

Slowly he turned his head to look at the two mortals, both full of honour, but one in his mid-thirty's, the other apparently so, but well over 300 years old. He smiled warmly at the latter and clapped him on the back,

"Damn good to see you again Brian, just a pity I am in such a condition." Sorenti said quietly,

"Mutual Sorenti, now shall we get moving?" Mr. Braddock replied.

Sorenti nodded curtly and the three of them took respective transports, he knew Maria was gone already, at her age, she could move faster than all of them put together and without any transport at that. With a soft chuckle, Sorenti waited for Bill to leave in the Dodge Viper GTS and Brian to pull away in the seemingly ordinary Vauxhall Carlton. He pondered the many refinements made by Lotus Cars in England, before mounting the reinforced Yamaha Genisis and roaring away, kicking furiously through the gears.

Sorenti saw Bill turn left up ahead, then Brian turn right, as their plan unfolded, Sorenti roared straight over the intersection. The fat, balding policeman in his patrol car, looked up, the doughnut half hanging from his blubbery lips. As he watched the bike speed away in his rear view mirror, he shrugged his heavy shoulders, knowing he could never keep up with it, let alone catch it and anyway, he was warm and content here, so he returned to his jelly doughnut.

After a while, Sorenti was out of the city and on dark, country lanes, he passed a signpost to Rouen and doused his headlights, changing up to quieten the engine. He cruised for a while, thinking about Cascadia and then sooner than he expected, he was on a gravel road leading up to a ruined monastery. The building had been destroyed seven times over the millenia it had stood for, each time rebuilt lovingly and re-populated by monks.

It seemed modern day had no room for an old, historic monastery, Sorenti mused as he brought the bike to a crawl, for nobody had rebuilt it this time. It had been burned, flooded, ransacked, bombed, tornadoed, burned again and finally neglected and vandalised. He felt behind him and unclipped a metal bar from the base of his seat, it unfolded out, fitting perfectly round his exhaust, acting as a silencer would a pistol. Sorenti eased open the clutch and pulled away up the drive, without spraying gravel as he was accustomed to do.

The nearer he got to the building, the less it looked like one. Parts of walls stood here and there, some so far apart, they appeared not to have joined the original structure at all. The shadows seemed darker than night itself and ominously looming at him, daring him to enter their vile territory. Stopping the bike, he felt eyes on him and he was sure he had heard a low grumble of an engine, or perhaps it was the wind. He pulled the bike off of the now small path, kicked down the stand and turned off the engine.

Two immense and hairy paws grabbed him roughly from behind, lifting him off his feet. The snarl from a thick, disgusting breath, came at him in a low gusting stench,

"You...arrrree wanted" the thing said

"Of that I have no doubt" Sorenti replied as he slowly slid La Magra backwards under his jacket. The Garou's claws dug into his arms harder, preventing him from thrusting the sword into it. Then suddenly, the Garou flew backwards with a yelp and Maria appeared, silent and concentrating. Sorenti didn't hesitate and lunged forwards, La Magra slicing straight through the bemused Garou. It howled viciously and Sorenti ducked as it swiped drunkenly at him. Sorenti looked in amazement as the huge beast lifted upwards, more than a foot off the ground, it stayed there for a second before bursting into flames.

Brian stepped out from the shadows with a smirk as always on his face, then all three jumped as the Garou's head exploded violently. Bill Tanner joined them, his white teeth visible in the moonlight from the grin on his face. The custom sniper rifle swinging happily in his hand.

"Well, that's a start" Brian said

"Think there are any more?" Bill questioned

"If there are, I think they'll be running right about now, impressive display Brian" Sorenti said, clearly in awe "You'll have to teach me that one day"

"I might just do that" Brian replied, "Or I might not" he added, again with a smirk.

"Ok...let's get to work" Sorenti commanded,

"Always the Prince huh?" Brian asked with a chuckle.

Sorenti was the one to smirk this time as the four set to work. About a half hour later, they had dug through a large patch of turf and earth to reveal a great stone slab. Brian took hold of one edge and strained to lift it, giving up after a few attempts. Sorenti smirked at him,

"My turn for the display" he said and knelt by the slab, inching his way along, feeling with his fingertips. Eventually his fingers found a shallow groove and he slid his finger in, using his nail, he just managed to flick the tiniest of switches, set deep into the stone. As he did, the giant slab slid silently backwards, almost ripping his finger from his hand. They all watched as the ground opened up, then Sorenti stepped calmly over the edge and dropped a good fifteen feet into the catacombs.

Moving quickly and wondering slightly at Cappadocian interests, Sorenti ignored the huge, emblazened sarcophagus and approached the much smaller, plain stone one against the wall. He heaved the lid off and took out the box inside, blowing the dust and cobwebs off of it. He held it up, looking at it in his torch light, before setting it upon the lavish great sarcophagus. He twisted it from side to side until it finally slotted in to the hexagon of the coat of arms on the bigger tomb.

Sorenti pushed down hard and the box disappeared from sight, he stood wondering if he would've been better to just break the box open. After what seemed like an eternity, the box rose slowly back out of the sarcophagus, its lid removed and a bundle of leather inside. Almost in awe of what he held, Sorenti lifted the leather bound object from the box and pulled the leather back to check it was what he wanted. Satisfied, he recovered the object and moved back to the hole where he had entered.

He grabbed the hanging rope and, with a little effort, pulled himself and his trophy out of the hole. Bill pulled the rope back up and the slab slid back to its previous position. Working hard, the four replaced the earth over the slab and then trod the turf on top. As they finished, the four smiled at each other and moved for their goodbyes. Brian held his hand out for Sorenti to shake it and a bullet tore through it.

They spun round and the lights from several vehicles came on, blinding them in the glare. From what he could make out, Sorenti guessed at about twenty or so Garou to his right and a mixture of Kindred and mortals to his left. Straight in front stood Vesper herself, proud, alluring and deadly. It was she who spoke,

"Now...how can I ever repay you for finding what I want?.....Oooohhh that's right....you'll all be dead, so no need" her terrible laughter filled the air, amidst a rumble of mirth from those surrounding her.

Sorenti risked a sideways look at the others and saw a desperate three, now very unsure of themselves. He winked at Brian as Maria's voice came into his mind, summoning his courage, Sorenti stepped forward towards Vesper, holding the Chalice above his head.

"Wait!" he ordered, "This is what you want and you shall have it....on one condition"

"Who the hell are you to condition us?" Vesper roared "We are in control, you will give it to us or die!"

"Agreed" Sorenti countered, "But since you and I both know we will fight with everything we have, you are going to lose a few before you have what you want. My way, there is no violence and you get the Chalice."

"Speak your terms, but make them quick!" Vesper answered, still roaring "If I like them, so be it, if not you will die anyway"

"Fair enough" Sorenti continued "I will hand you the Chalice and you may do with us as you will, on the condition you let Bill here go free, unharmed and your assurance he will get safe passage back to Cascadia."

Bill began to protest but Sorenti silenced him quickly.

"What so he can call your army? I don't think so" Vesper retorted.

"NO..No...no....just so he can tie up my business affairs for me...nothing more. I am a Ventrue after all." Sorenti prayed she would take it.

After a few moments thought Vesper answered "Hmmm...very well, he is pure mortal anyway, I don't see he could do much harm. Well then Bill...GO!"

With a reassuring look, Sorenti nodded to Bill who stared blankly before slowly walking past the assembled enemy and to his car. Sorenti waited until he had pulled away and his engine could no longer be heard before stepping forward towards Vesper. She held her hands out excitedly for the Chalice as Sorenti neared her, again Maria's voice came in his head, Sorenti nodded ever so slightly and then looked Vesper in the eye.

He slowly extended his arms, with the Chalice, towards Vesper. As she reached to take it, Sorenti coughed and spat in her face, using every effort to vanish immediately. He guessed it worked, for Vesper looked around wildly and the shooting began in all directions. At his cough, Maria had disappeared from sight completely and Brian had shot straight upwards into the night sky, that ability Sorenti had always ridiculed, but now it proved invaluable. Sorenti didn't worry about the other two, he ran as hard as he could, stray bullets whipped all around him.

He headed for his bike, then realised they would all see the bike start up, making him a perfect target. Sorenti hesitated for a second and regretted it, a bullet ricocheted off the armour of the bike and lodged itself kindly in his left leg. With the smell of blood on him, he would be easy meat for the Garou now. He turned and ran blindly towards the gravel drive, using every ounce of strength to go as fast as he could, sure the enemy would hear his footfalls. He heard them behind him, giving chase to the noise he made, so he cut left and into the thin band of trees, the moss dousing the sound from his running feet.

Abruptly he came upon Brian's Carlton and without thinking, threw himself onto the back seat, slamming and locking the door behind him. He looked out the rear window and saw the herd of rabble coming up on him fast, the Garou leading. Sorenti braced himself for the oncoming attack, but knew there was little he could do, then all of a sudden, he realised they were not gaining anymore, that they were actually losing ground on the car. He spun around in the seat, met by a dark chuckle from the front seat,

"How many times do I have to save your butt man?" Brian said

"Thanks, b..but why didn't you escape?"

"What and lose my prize possession?" Brian answered as he patted the steering wheel lovingly. "No way, I planned on sitting here in silence until either I was spotted or they got bored and left, lucky for you I did"

"Yes, definitely" Sorenti breathed with a sigh of relief, "Thankyou again Brian, still DAMN glad to see you again"

The two laughed as the customised V12 engine powered them back onto the road and away, leaving Vesper screaming obscenities at those around her.

Two hours later, Sorenti fondly parted company with Brian and Maria, who had caught up with Bill and brought him back to their previous rendezvous, and left with both Bill and the Chalice, headed for Cascadia.

((Woah thats a COOL post :smile:))

((wow, now THAT f*ckin rocked. nice nice nice!! :cool: i'm impressed and good to have you back.

((Well thanks lots, means a lot :smile:

Sorenti ran his finger round the edge of the Chalice as Bill drove, it sent a shiver through him and he relaxed back into the leather seat, contemplating just what to do with the legendary artefact...