Smoke and mirrors

[Erika Leroux]

She bides her time, her moment. The set up is simple. All she has to do is wait for Christine to return. And when she does, Erika's little songbird will find her Maestra, worriedly attempting to clean the large mirror in Christine's room.

"I ...I don't know what happened...don't look my sweet, turn away, this was...It appeared from nowhere...I didn't want to let you see it..." A blood tear rolls down her face, as she desperately scrubs at the single word scrawled across the glass.

Only the letters "hore" are visible now.

[Christine Daye]

Christine freezes in horror, pages of sheet music falling from suddenly nerveless fingers to fall on the floor. A thin stream of melody seeps from her throat.

"Maestra.... how...? ... what?!"

She starts breathing quickly, panicking, twisting her fingers together. Then she seizes a handkerchief from the dressing table and sets to scrubbing hard at the glass.

"...no... no... no.... nonononono...."

Going over the same bit of glass, again and again and again, singing softly, breath coming in panicked gasps.

"...hush a bye.... don't you cry.... go to sleep my little baby..."

[Erika Leroux]

Still seemingly shaken, Erika helps her striken ward clean the glass.

"No, shhh, no...it...can't be...we must have been imagining this...I haven't seen such a...." Erika lets a look of horror cross her face. "No..it could not be...could it?"

She grasps Christine's arms, the worry evident.

"You...you once...spoke to me of your Papa...It could not be...could it? Oh, my poor dear...my poor, poor darling girl. What should we...must we...?"

Her words tail off as she scoops Christine into a tight embrace and weeps into her hair.

[Christine Daye]

Christine is trembling, still humming frantic lullabies. She stiffens in shock at Maestra's words, lets herself be taken into Maestra's embrace, mechanically stroking her back.

Still reeling from the shock, she whispers:

"...Papa.... yes... he whispers... in my sleep... calls me... such horrible things... whispers... names... but... never before... actions..."

Her face twists in fear and one hand reaches up unconsciously to pull and tug at her hair.

"...the lectures... Mr Dukes... Papa is angry... oh! What have I done?!"

[Erika Leroux]

Erika reaches for Christine's hand, takes it gently, moves it away from her hair, stroking it through the cloth of her glove, holding her close with the other arm, as a loving mother would a child.

"No, my sweetling. It cannot be that...can it?" She affects an air of puzzlement. "What....what happened at the lecture that you might think it thus? Should we speak with Mr Dukes together so that we can make sense of this?"

All the while, inside, Erika's twisted mind is singing joyfully. This, this is where she wants her.

[Vivian Delaney]

There is a squeak from the glass of the mirror.
A new word has formed on the glass; a firmer, sharper hand, the letters angular and crudely formed.

WYRM

[Erika Leroux]

Erika watches the mirror; the initial shock of what has just happened is swiftly overriden with the potential. She lets the actual shock show - why need to act and waste genuine emotion that lends a certain credibility to this?

"See..." she whispers, not daring to raise her voice for fear it, whatever it is, will hear her words and damn her. "It is happening again!"

She clings tightly to Christine then, to comfort and be comforted.

[Christine Daye]

Christine's humming goes up a notch in volume, then she starts singing quietly.

"...be still my soul... the Lord is always near thee... "

Mechanically, still trembling, still in shock, she clings to her Maestra.

"What... what should we do... Maestra? Papa... he will not..."

Her words trail off, then return.

"...he will not hurt you... unless he has... changed somehow..."

She hums again.

"...maybe... maybe... I... I should go back to the House on the Hill... I... I will be safe... there..."

[Erika Leroux]

Erika looks frightened at Christine's words. Terrified. She breaks down, shaking, sobbing, the panic at the thought of Christine leaving her behind for her to face this alone shining through the bloodied tears.

Ah, run back into the arms of the puppy, and to damnation with your so-called beloved ward? Do you think I've learned nothing from you, songbird? See what it's like from my side for a change.

Her right hand reaches to her hair.

No, that is too much, she will recognise it.

Instead she clasps the side of her head, looking away from Christine, and continues to sob.

[Christine Daye]

Christine looks stricken.

"Oh Maestra! Hush...hush... I did not mean it... I do not know what to do... that is all! Please don't cry, Maestra! Please!"

She looks panicked at her mentor's apparent breakdown, hugging Erika tightly. Not knowing what else to do, she starts rocking the other Kindred in her arms, singing a soft lullaby.

"...go to sleep, baby child, go to sleep my little baby... hush a bye, don't you cry... go to sleep my little baby... "