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Geoffry crept slowly across the clean, blue mat towards Venice, his left hand weaving slightly to screen the blunt practice knife in his right hand, thereby preventing it from being captured or trapped. Venice slowly circled, mirroring his movements save for the fact that her right foot was forward in the 'short timer' stance commonly favored by smaller knife fighters who needed to try and negate some of the reach advantage of their opponents.
As Geoffry realized that his left hand was starting to drop slightly, Venice struck at it with her practice knife trying to make one of the many small cuts that in a real fight would be used to bleed him out until he was too weak to continue.
The unconscious reflexes that had saved him a number of times already took over, and Geoffry slapped Venice's wrist behind the knife. The blow sent the knife and the hand holding it wide, allowing Geoffry to step in and strike which he did, reversing the knife and trying to hit her in the head in the split second he had to choose his target.
Rather than trying to counterattack as Geoffry expected, Venice took a quick step back and swore at him. “I've told you six or seven times now. If you are going to slash someone do it somewhere that there are major blood vessels of some kind near the surface so you can do some damage. You pull that kind of crap in a real fight, and you'll probably end up dead.”
Geoffry recoiled slightly from the venom in Venice's voice. “I'm sorry, I was just thinking that maybe I could practice strikes that would incapacitate an opponent without killing them.”
Rather than being calmed by Geoffry's words as he'd expected, Venice swore again and threw her practice knife at him. The dull pot metal made it through two complete revolutions before Geoffry's hand reached up and plucked it from the air a few inches in front of his face. If only it were that easy to deflect Venice's words.
“You don't fight to subdue. You've still got most of the reflexes you spent decades developing, but if you keep trying to override them you're going to end up dead. One stupid assassination where you almost got yourself killed doesn't even come close to making you qualified to start making up new tactics. If you get in a fight, one of two things happened, either you started it or they did. If you decided to start something you'd bloody well better have decided that you're ready to go all the way and kill the sod. Otherwise you've got no business getting involved in the first place. If someone else started something, you can bet that they'll be more than ready to kill you and leave your morally-superior butt dead on the curb.”
Geoffry opened his mouth to respond that he'd been in more than just the one confrontation, but changed his mind. She doesn't need to know about that. Even if I told her, it wouldn't do anything for my case as I fought to kill just as she described rather than trying to incapacitate my opponents.
The fact that Geoffry didn't argue with her seemed to mollify Venice slightly. She simply collected her stuff and headed towards the locker room instead of remaining to verbally flay him as she normally would have.
Shrugging resignedly, Geoffry pulled his things together and walked the other direction towards the male dressing room and it's shiny new facilities. On the other hand, most of the rest of the training session went well. Venice was right, her gym is much nicer than my apartment. Not only that, the fact that we both keep such ungodly hours means that we don't really have to share the place with anyone.
The vampire showered and changed as quickly as he was able, but somehow Venice was still already done and waiting for him in the lobby when he finished.
How does she manage to get ready so fast and still look impeccable when she is done?
Geoffry looked Venice over as he approached her and recognized some of the subtle clues he'd started to identify that indicated something was bothering her still. It isn't like her to hold onto things for very long-usually she reams me and then moves on. I wonder if there's some way for me to diffuse the situation.
“Decided to stay and see if you could get a good night kiss?” For maybe the first time that Geoffry had ever seen, Venice looked momentarily confused, as if the sudden reversal in roles had completely thrown her.
It only took a couple of heartbeats for Venice to regain her normal air of complete self assurance. “Please, like it would have mattered if I had. For whatever reason you've decided that I'm nearly as much an enemy as Imastious.”
Geoffry shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable with how near Venice was to the truth. I really don't trust her. There are aspects of her character and personality that really bother me, but I am finding that I enjoy our time together-is that just one more symptom of how broken I am? How else could you possibly explain being friends with someone like her?
Venice shot him a sly smile. “Did I hit a little too close there for you, love? Or is it that I just sparked one of those internal debates you seem so fond of since you came back?”
Geoffry did a quick scan of his thoughts, looking for something alien that might indicate that Venice was using her very limited mentalist abilities to try and read his thoughts, but there wasn't anything that even hinted at an outside presence inside his mind. Not like when Imastious tortured me. I could definitely feel that, and all indications are that he is much more powerful than Venice will be for several centuries still. She just knows me well enough to read my expression much better than I'd like.
The vampire suddenly realized that he'd let the silence stretch out too long, but as he opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, Venice cut him off.
“Don't try to deny it now, you've still got a ton to relearn about lying. Half of what you're thinking may as well be written on your forehead in flashing neon letters, and the other half can usually be guessed by those of us who've known you for so long.”
Geoffry shrugged, but his mind keyed on to the last part of Venice's statement. She keeps saying that I'm a different person from what I was. How can that mesh with the idea that she's known me for so long that she can predict my thoughts. Maybe I'm not as changed as she and Imastious would like me to believe. Or maybe she's just playing head games with me, it wouldn't be at all unlike her to do so if she possibly thought it would gain her some kind of advantage.
Venice flashed a smile that was very nearly the picture of perfection she usually bestowed upon the world. “Don't worry about me, I've spent more years than you can imagine with people who would purposely say all kinds of things true or otherwise to try and throw me off my game so that they could take advantage of me in one way or another. Your current feelings about me are less than optimal, but they are also subject to change.”
Venice stood up and turned to leave. “Oh, you should probably be warned. Things are starting to get a little tense out there. Not necessarily like something is going down right away, but like events are heading that way. You should watch yourself and be prepared.”
Geoffry's mind tried to switch gears and consider the implications of this new piece of information. “What do you mean?”
It was Venice's turn to shrug. “I'm not sure, it doesn't happen very often but occasionally one of the masters-individuals like Imastious, or someone even more powerful than he is-will make a play for more power. Usually their rivals are too powerful to assault directly. After decades of planning, their strategies usually are too subtle to spill out into something you or I would see. Still, there are very real conflicts out there, ones in which pawns like you and I get assassinated as a way of trimming a rival back down to manageable size. That is pretty much par for the course, but this feels like something else, like maybe a real power in the city is getting ready to try and take a rival all the way out.”
Geoffry nodded. “Okay, I'll be careful.”
“More likely you'll passively sit by and let them kill you, but I'll just have to hope none of them figure out that you work for Imastious.”
Geoffry stood at the door to the club lost in thought for several minutes after Venice had left. Unsurprisingly, rather than contemplating the little tidbits of information he'd just learned, he found his thoughts once again returning to Melody.
Implanting suitable subliminal commands into the minds of the three girls had been extremely difficult, the more so because he wasn't really sure how to do what he'd wanted. In the end he'd worked out of instinct more than anything else, and the process had taken nearly two hours, and left Geoffry shaking with exhaustion. I think that my efforts will probably do the trick though when it comes to ensuring that Melody won't be hassled so much at school. I think I may have also nudged them a little in ways that might turn them into decent students, ones with the potential to become real three-dimensional people.
Getting back out of the school without running into the principal had been a little tricky, but had been well worth it as the vampire hadn't wanted to deliver on the promises he'd let her read in his eyes.
Of course that has the potential side effect of meaning that she might feel spurned enough to try and make waves for 'Detective Allen Smith', but hopefully the fact that the girls won't be talking to their parents will be enough to keep her silent. There isn't any reason to go and make herself look like a fool if she isn't getting any kind of blow back from anyone.
All of which is fine and dandy in theory, but I still don't know how well any of it worked.
Geoffry felt a little twinge of conscience at that thought. He pushed the door open and walked out into the light drizzle, but he already knew that he wasn't going to be able to distract himself.
Of course it isn't really your conscience that is bothering you. She's little more than a child, especially when weighed against the decades, or maybe even the centuries that you've probably lived, and you're mooning over her like a senseless animal. Why the obsession?
An animal. What an appropriate choice of words. You've killed people, not just before, but since you've regained your memory as well. You live on blood you take from the unwilling, and you invade their thoughts for whatever reason takes your fancy in a form of mental violation.
The vampire pulled his trench coat tighter around his neck in an effort to keep out the rain, and then adjusted his bag. It was going to be a long night full of internal arguments, but he already knew that before he went home he'd stop at Melody's. Now if only I knew whether or not to be happy about that.
**
Geoffry carefully crept down the fire escape from the roof, and after verifying that there wasn't any movement inside Melody's darkened window, took a position as close to the window as he was able. I suspect that I'm still just scratching the surface of what my abilities will allow me to do, but at least I'm picking up a few tricks and bits of knowledge. Foremost among them the fact that the closer I am to someone the easier it is to work with their thoughts.
Melody's thoughts were as bright and cheery as he remembered. They washed over Geoffry with a refreshing tingle that temporarily washed away all of his doubts about the wisdom of visiting. Her dreams don't reveal anything, how do I find out what I need to know?
The vampire tried to probe deeper into Melody's psyche, but found that although he quickly got an overall impression of who she really was, it was almost impossible to find one specific set of memories. Or if not impossible, at least requiring much more in the way of time and effort than I can invest right now.
After a few more minutes of thought, Geoffry hit upon a novel approach, and directed his consciousness towards the area of Melody's thoughts that contained her dreaming mind. It was a relatively simple matter to subtly manipulate the fabric of the mind around him so Melody was dreaming about what he wanted to know. These girls, how do you feel about them?
Melody's consciousness turned in the direction he prodded, and he began to get a sense of her feelings towards the trio that had been persecuting her. Dislike, combined with guilt that you feel that way towards them. Envy, but a clean envy, untainted by hate that they have so many things you don't. And lastly, more recently, amazement that they've begun to treat you like a fellow human.
The rush of relief and gratitude that Geoffry felt at knowing his efforts had succeeded was so strong, that some of it leaked through the link, touching Melody's thoughts and diffusing through her mind like food coloring that somehow strengthened as it spread, rather than fading.
I don't know if I would have believed such simple, innocent joy existed if I hadn't been here to experience it myself.
As Geoffry prepared to carefully back out of Melody's thoughts, he felt a subtle change course through them, a quickening that fascinated him. It's almost like she is waking up, but not quite. She's as amazed by the sudden happiness as me. It's like she senses that it originated from somewhere outside her.
The thoughts which up to now had been soft and yielding suddenly took on a firmer, sticky nature, and the vampire suppressed panic as his renewed efforts to disengage became largely futile. Something in Melody's thoughts seemed to key in on his efforts, strengthening the force immobilizing him at the same time that he felt an increased interest in his presence.
As Geoffry gathered his energy for one final exertion to free himself, something reached out and ripped away the shadows that separated him from Melody. The vampire felt a brief flash of recognition flare through the girl's thoughts, followed by an astonishment that almost exactly mirrored his own.