31 October 2008
Castle Rock, Maine

Andrey ap Ailil surveyed his surroundings... the night club he ran was getting ready for the annual Samhain party he held in his small Barony, and while it techically /wasn't/ Samhain yet, there was still a small crowd of clubhoppers in town. He glanced around, most of them boring and dreary mortals, and then his eyes found her. She gleamed in his eyes, pure and pristine, Banality radiating from her icy form like a dark threat, daring to be tamed. Chuckling softly, the sidhe baron made his way over towards her.

Sandra calmly sipped her drink, pretending to swallow the rather rancid scotch as she glanced around, looking quite bored as she hunted for prey this night. Coming back to her old haunts might have been a mistake, but for some reason she had been feeling sentimental lately. Old age, perhaps, or more likely an escape from the politics between Fursa, Pendragon, and the rest of the bunch. Hmming softly to herself, she turned and beheld quite possibly the most perfect man she'd ever seen. His hair was black as hers, and almost as long, his frame lean and not too muscular, causing her to think interesting thoughts... ones she hadn't had for centuries. Blinking away the initial reaction, she found herself placing her hand in his, "I... am glad to meet you. Sandra." She blinked again, and smiled, "Er... my name is Sandra, rather."

He smiled back at her, using a hint of Glamour to see her true nature... a vampire, here in the freehold? Most interesting, he thought as he said, "Greetings Sandra, and welcome to the Endless Winter. I'm your host, Andrey." He smiled, a grin few women could ever resist, living /or/ dead. "Would you care to dance?"

Sandra smiled, and squeezed Andrey's hand, accepting the invitation. Slowly he led her to the dance floor, and then they began a slow, intricate dance upon the dance floor, his arms holding her tightly to him. Gently they weaved across the floor, and Andrey slowly gathered his Glamour, as they talked in the dance... thinking that this one would be a perfect Queen of Shadows for this night, to represent the coming Winter. Softly he incanted the time warping cantrip, just as he smiled, her lips on his neck... then his eyes bugged out as he realized that she had her own plans...

Sandra smiled, not needing much.. but a soft nip would put this one in just the proper mood. Besides, she thought to herself, one like this I wouldn't mind dallying with, when next I came to Castle Rock. Slowly she sunk her teeth into his neck, then blinking as she felt the power in his vitae, her body spasming as she drank deep of his blood, a sudden hunger raging in her as she had to have him, Now! Faintly she noticed the room spiraling out of control as she staggered back, unaware of how much she drank... just that his blood was on her mouth, and a variety of odd nightmare creatures were looking at her darkly. One, a large bruiser eight feet tall with blue skin and horns, grabbed a maul, "The Leech attacked the Baron! Kill her!"

Sandra might not have been coherent, but one thing the Sabbat teaches its recruits (if they live), is to fight or flee with their instincts. And Sandra had over three hundred years to hone those instincts, so she quickly pulled out her blade, barely noticing the Baron moving on the ground as she slashed at some nightmarish creature. Grey-skinned, he laughed at her swing and simply chomped into her katana, breaking it. Frowning a bit, she tossed the sword hilt at the creature, trying to ignore the fact it just ate /that/ as well, and concentrated, chanting in Latin. Suddenly, a ball of fire erupted in her hands, and she cast it towards the grey thing, knocking it back as it shrieked at the flames. Running quickly, she made her way towards the mirror behind the bar, shrieking arcane verse as the blue-skinned thug was on her heels. Leaping at it, she flew through the mirror and came out in the front of the club, her lungs heaving as she heard from inside a muffled cry of pain, and looked down to see a large blue hand grasping her ankle. Sighing, she picked it up, only to see... no, wait, it couldn't be!

But it was. A flotilla of winged monkeys were zooming in on her, shrieking as they lobbed rotten apples at her. Panicked, eyes agleam with frenzy, she dropped the hand and ran into the nearest store and grabbed a broomstick, chased by the monkeys as she invoked her spell, taking to the air in the deserted and closed hardware store, zooming away from the monkeys at top speed. Eventually, she lost them, much to her relief as she soared through the clouds, on her way back to Manchester. Looking back one last time, she shook her head, then looked in front of her and ran head-on into the dragon.

The broom snapped, and Sandra screamed as she started falling, her concentration broken in the collosion. The dragon hmphed and snatched Sandra by the ankle, holding her upside down as it seemed annoyed on its cloudy perch. "I do say, old mum, you ruined my nap. Didn't you see the no-flying sign I posted?"

Sandra blinked, then blinked again, and looked back. Sure enough, there was a no-flying zone sign posted on a cloud, a yellow diamond completed with a little black image of a dragon with a trio of Z's over its head. Shaking her head at the surreality of it all, she looked again at the dragon, who was peering at her, unable to think of anything remotely possible to say.

The dragon grinned toothily, "Normally, I'd make you a snack, but in this case, I think I'll just give you a break, it being Samhain and all." He snorted, and hmmed, "Let's see... you live right about... there, right?" He pointed down, and Sandra could recognize the shape of Manchester from the clouds. She nodded, thinking... this has GOT to be a dream.

The dragon laughed, "Well, maybe... maybe not, but I don't think you're waking up for a while! Toodles!" It dropped her then, letting her scream all the way down... and it was a ways, you know. Fortuntately for Sandra, she had the presence of mind to use her levitation again, causing her to slow and come to a none-too-gentle landing in the middle of the lake. Freezing and shivering, she swam out and made it back to her house, slipping inside and going downstairs to sleep, since it was almost morning and a good day's rest should get the strangeness from her system.

25 January 2009
Manchester, NH

Sandra yawned and stretched, rising slowly and feeling like she slept a hundred years. Then she smiled at the errant thought, not really wanting to waste that much time. Looking down, she blinked, as she saw a note on her pillow. Opening it curiously, she read...

"Dear Sandra, I hope I haven't put you out too terribly with this. No harm done really, despite what you might've seen, and I do hope you come out next Samhain to dance with us... just keep your erotic little lovebites until after the dance? Cheers, love! - Andrey"

Blinking in surprise, she watched the note slowly start to flame, and with a quick woosh, it ignited and vanished in one swift burst. Shaking her head, she looked over at the clock, and hmm'd, mentally thinking that a party with a three-month hangover is not something she should really repeat. Then she laughed softly, remembering faintly the night as a dream, before moving up and preparing for the night's work.