Sorenti wandered down the hall to the library where he had been with El-Assli for the previous two nights. He pushed open the great doors and stood looking at the rows upon rows of books, some new, some old and dusty. He took out a book at random from the ceiling high shelves, "The World at War In Colour"....yes, history, Sorenti thought to himself, that would be a good place to start. So he began pulling out books all over the place that had anything to do with history, from the ancient Egyptians, to the Romans, the Dark Ages and through to a book on "Modern L.A.". He then set about putting them in a sort of chronological order and took the oldest book first.

As he began to read, Imo-rah popped his head round the door,

"Sir, is there anything I can get you?" he asked rather nervously

Sorenti thought for a minute and then replied, "No, thankyou, nothing I can think of...Oh, wait, yes there is actually...come in please"

Imo-rah obeyed, his chest puffed out, trying not to show his awe of the one talking to him.

"Is it true you would do anything I asked of you, young one?" Sorenti asked after a pause

"Certainly sir, we are all here to serve you in any way we can" came the boy's reply, his voice cracking right at the end with a nervous squeak.

"Hmmmm" Sorenti said with a slight nod, "Very well, run round the room three times"

Imo-rah gave an odd look, but hid it quickly and started to run round the room as instructed.

"Stop, stop" chuckled Sorenti, "I just wanted to see if you would, or whether you would question it....please do stop now. By the way, what is your name boy?"

"Imo-rah, sir"

"Well then Imo-rah, do you have anything to do?"

"No sir, not that I can think of sir"

"Hmmm, then maybe you could help me?"

"O..of c..course sir, with what.errr...how, errr...sure sir" Imo-rah stammered

Sorenti chuckled again, this time at the lad's desperation to please and be correct in his words.

"Right then, Imo-rah, firstly you can call me Sorenti, not sir or Great One....just Sorenti ok?"

"Yes sir..as you wish sir...err...Sorenti"

"Excellent, much better...and secondly, I would like to read through the assembled literature in this room, if you could sort all the books on the shelves into subject category....I would really appreciate it...make things a lot easier for me...could you do that Imo-rah?"

"Oh..y..yes sir..err..Sorenti" he uttered, getting over his nerves and realising he could do something to help, "sure, not a problem at all" with a huge goofy smile of a teenage boy.

Sorenti smiled and went back to his book. After a while, with Imo-rah rustling away in the background with the books, Sorenti got bored with the book, he sighed and began to just flip through the pages. With a look of surprise, Sorenti realised he had actually just read every page he had flipped through. Checking back, he confirmed his realisation and so tried it again, he flipped quickly through the following pages and again found he knew their content. With almost a foolish looking grin, Sorenti flipped through the pages all the way to its end and was highly amused to find he had not missed a word.

Excitedly now, Sorenti slid the book across the table for Imo-rah to put back and took the next. He sped the pages by with his thumb, all the way to the book's conclusion, delighted at the fact he had read an entire book in mere seconds. He slid that book across to the dumbstruck Imo-rah, winked at him and took the next. With the next book, it had become a game, Sorenti sliding the books across the table as he finished them, with poor Imo-rah trying to keep up and put them back on the shelves before Sorenti slid the next.

The two began to laugh at the game, which only made it harder for Imo-rah, which made them both laugh all the harder for it. As Sorenti finished his small pile on the table and got up to get some more, the great doors banged open and an armed guard rushed in,

"What the hell is going on in here?" he demanded of Imo-rah

"Uhhh..well I was helping Sorenti with the books, it was kinda fun wasn't it Sorenti?...S.Sorenti?" Imo-rah replied, looking round the room for Sorenti who seemed to have gone.

"Oh you were helping...I see" said the guard sarcastically "and just who were you helping since you are the only one in here?"

"No..no..I swear..I was helping Sorenti..I was" Imo-rah stuttered, at a loss and bemused.

"Don't lie anymore...just get this room straightened up and fast, or The Great One will not be pleased!" ordered the guard

"Actually, he really was helping me with the books" Sorenti said from the end of the table where he stood "He really was and if you don't mind, I would like him to continue doing so"

Both Imo-rah and the guard looked wildly about for the voice. Sorenti looked round to see why they were searching, when he saw his hands, or rather didn't see them. He was leaning on the table, both palms down, yet he could clearly see the table under his hands and the carpet instead of his feet. Almost as confused as the other two, Sorenti concentrated and was happy to see his hands appear where they should be. Imo-rah, having seen Sorenti read at light speed was less shocked and had to hide a smile, but the guard almost had a heart attack. He stumbled backwards spewing out words in no particular order,

"Great One...where were...err Sorenti...err who...books...err how wha?"

Sorenti held up his hand "forgive me, everything is fine and young Imo-rah here is doing sterling work for me, you may leave now"

The guard simply nodded and backed away attempting to bow at the same time. When the doors had shut, Sorenti looked at Imo-rah who was desperate to laugh and smiled.

"Ok..first the book thing, now this, how the hell did I do it?"

"Err I have no idea Sorenti sir.... errr..Sorenti" Imo-rah replied stifling giggle fits

Sorenti frowned with wonder and tried to vanish again, he actually found it far easier than he had thought, he could appear and disappear at will. So, Sorenti stood there, appearing and disappearing like a light bulb being switched on and off repeatedly. With Imo-rah now in fits of laughter, Sorenti vanished and reappeared right behind him, the shock on the boy's face sent Sorenti into laughter. The two played a sort of hide and seek for most of the rest of the night, amusing both no end.

Eventually, their games ceased as dawn approached, Sorenti bade Imo-rah goodnight and retired to the sanctum, locking it as El-Assli had done. For the next four nights, Sorenti, with his young friend Imo-rah, ploughed his way through the entire library, as well as about 200 cigarettes between them.

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[b:ff6a59bb5a][i:ff6a59bb5a] "Be careful who you're talking to.....they might just have the upper hand" [/i:ff6a59bb5a][/b:ff6a59bb5a][url]http://sorenti.homestead.com/main.html[/url]

[ This Message was edited by: Sorenti on 2002-01-10 23:34 ]

Thousands of miles away Gabriel feels a pang of jealousy pop into his heart.


((great writing Ray!

((cheers :grin:

((DAMN!

(( Woah damn good writing man :smile: ))

((whoa sweet goodness of a post!

((ya this is some good stuff

:grin:

On the fifth night, El-Assli returned with a seemingly young lady who wore a hooded cloak of deep red velvet, pulled tightly to her face. Behind them, a line of 7 women, all blonde and quite beautiful followed their every step. Sorenti sat opposite Imo-rah in the library, just chatting casually about Imo-rah's life when El-Assli came in, followed by the entourage. He bowed to Sorenti and then turned to introduce the cloaked lady, but she beat him to it, moving swiftly over to Sorenti.

"Lord Sorenti, I have heard all about you and it is an honour to be here. Allow me to introduce myself," she said, taking Sorenti's hand in hers shuddering slightly at a strange sensation, "I am the Comtesse de Triarche and I understand I am to assist you in discovering and mastering your gifts"

Sorenti stood slowly and kissed her hand,

"Comtesse, it is I who am honoured to be spoken too with such respect by one as lovely as yourself."

The Comtesse smiled faintly as El-Assli explained she was also Ventrue and would be able to help Sorenti far more than he could. Sorenti couldn't take his eyes from the Countess, something about her held his attention, but certainly not against his will. He mouthed a "thankyou" to El-Assli as he presented the 7 women, but did not look away from the Countess.

"Forgive me Comtesse, I do not mean to be rude by staring, but something holds me to you" Sorenti said

"It is quite alright sir, I feel it to, mayhap we are made of similar blood, or fate holds us in its grasp. Anyway, we had best set about discovering your potential had we not?"

Sorenti nodded as she moved behind him and took her head in his hands, turning his head to face the wall, "Now concentrate" she whispered in his ear, her closeness sending shivers up Sorenti's back.

"The first thing you must learn, is to shield your thoughts and emotions from others," The countess said with a slight smirk.

Sorenti swallowed hard, realising she had just seen into his mind and his thoughts of her feminine proximity. He did as she asked and concentrated. All of a sudden, he physically felt a barrier shoot up in his head. The Countess chuckled lightly as one by oe, Sorenti forced up more and more until he was entirely shielded from everything. The Countess smiled and released his head gently, praising his ability. She then went on to pick all of Sorenti's gifts out one by one...from healing through to the ability of internal recursion, with little tests for each stage as he improved and mastered each.

They continued in this manner for two whole nights, with Imo-rah watching, fascinated by The Great One and the skill of his tutor. Using the girls, she taught Sorenti to feed without them even knowing or feeling anything, a very useful skill, she had said. All the while, they chatted constantly about Ventrue, the Camarilla and the Sabbat, plus many of the things Sorenti had read about. On the third night, the Countess had left, offering Sorenti her help, should he ever need it and to just call her mentally. As she left, Sorenti had felt a strong pull to follow her and vowed one day to discover why.

As he was thinking about it, El-Assli had appeared and offered him a test, to face 10 mortals who were enemies of the Society, under controlled circumstances, to see if he needed any tutoring in combat. Sorenti was feeling stronger every day and he readily agreed. The 10 men were heavily armed with swords, daggers and shields, but caged. When Sorenti was ready, wielding only his sword (La Magra), the men were all released at once. A few minutes later, when all the men lay dead, they concluded that tutoring in swordplay was not needed. The test was repeated several times with various weaponry on both sides, none of them proved any problem for Sorenti without using his gifts.

Highly pleased with himself, Sorenti gently fed from one of the girls while El-Assli talked away. Sorenti watched as El-Assli unfurled a great map on the long table, it was very modern and still smelled of the printing ink. Intrigued, Sorenti let the girl go, slipped into a new shirt and stood looking at the great map, putting on his expertly repaired and oiled jacket. El-Assli pointed from place to place, explaining that Sorenti had to follow what was written and go out into the world, protecting society members and avenging their wrongs.

"So, I have to pick a place to live?" Sorenti asked

"Yes, exactly Sorenti sir, you'll probably need to fit in with the Kindred of the place you choose...so do take your time over it"

"Hmmm...well it has to be America" Sorenti declared

"May I ask why, Sorenti sir?"

"Well, I have read much about it and it is a place of good opportunity, with everything I could possibly need, readily available."

"Very well sir...I will leave you to pick a city" El-Assli said, turning to leave

"Wait" said Sorenti,"what's this place here?" he asked as he pointed to a name on the map

"Ahh that would be Los Angeles, sir, not a good place to live for one as you sir"

"And this one?"

"Ahh...Detroit sir...definitely out, way too high a crime rate, too many police, would be almost a life of hiding"

"Hmm I see..ok this one?"

"New York sir, again a very high profile place, anyone with real money is hounded by just about everyone."

"No, that won't do...ok how about...wait a minute...what's this place?"

"That would be Cascadia sir"

"And? what's wrong with there?"

"Nothing I can think of, but wouldn't you prefer Denver sir? it has a far higher population and is easy to not be noticed"

"But why not Cascadia? the name sounds divine and would look much better on letterheads" Sorenti said with a smirk

"Well I don't see anything wrong with it, just I don't know a lot about it....it could be a terrible place."

"But wouldn't you have heard about it if it was?" Sorenti asked

"Well true...I suppose so yes Sorenti sir."

"Right then, Cascadia it will be, it's growing on me already"

The two talked it over and El-Assli set about the plans for bank accounts to be transferred there in Sorenti's name, plane tickets and an entourage of guards, servants and the blonde women. El-Assli told Sorenti he may take the Ahmar Kitab with him, since it really belonged to him anyway and that he would receive an invite to speak to the society once every two months, if that was ok, to which Sorenti had readily agreed. Sorenti went back to chatting with Imo-rah and El-Assli argued on the phone with some real estate agent about the price of a Cascadian property.

The next evening, after a meeting in the great hall in which Sorenti had been officially presented to the society, everything was ready and Sorenti arrived at Cairo International Airport. As he boarded the plane, much to the annoyance of his guards, he asked that Imo-rah sit next to him for the duration of the flight. When they finally landed in Cascadia, a strange feeling came over Sorenti, very similar to the one he had felt with the Countess.

((don't worry Rof, although he is back, the story will continue so you get to find out how they made the errors lol :grin:

((lol if you see Sor in game....just don't expect him to know who you are lol :P

(( WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!! :smile: Supurb writing Ray, truely incredible.

(( Sha-Bing!

((wow Chaz.....thanks man :smile: you too Marcus :smile:

:grin:

((Annoyingly good as always ya boob:P

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I stand watching. Your head fucked full of ugly, spittle sweet thoughts, and damp, forced sounds. You lie quivering, I can smell your pain, no taste your fear. Incomplete and straining under my touch. It is all you have now. You are mine for the taking.

[ This Message was edited by: Tanos on 2002-01-13 16:54 ]