A friendly face...

[frank]

A black umbrella among a deluge of raindrops drew a bit of attention from the few fledglings that lingered indoors. It was one of those rare, cloudburst-skies that frank could actually roam in the day. In a few short hours, it would be dusk, and her brethren would start to roam the night once more. Entering the well manicured grounds of the compound, Frank darted gracefully toward the largest mansion in the cluster of mansions. She was off to see Salvatore. For once, she was dressed in something Salvatore would approve of, something presentable. She wore a long burgundy sheath gown made of silk, heavily tattooed arms exposed as thin straps shrugged slightly off her pallid shoulders. However, as to be expected, instead of delicate shoes to match, Frank wore high-laced combat boots under the elegant dress.



Frank brushed the soft orange strands from her face, her blue eyes sagging with a twinge of empty sadness. She had been gone for a little over a year, on a small business venture at the request of Salvatore; and now, she longed to see the delicately aged face of her sire. Salvatore was her family, and her king. She held great reverence and respect for the man, her loyalty to him surpassed by none. She approached the threshold of the grandiose home, folding down her umbrella as she rang the intercom. It took a few moments for the young vampire that acted as security to answer her. The squat, well dressed little vampire hurried to the door, hastily ushering Frank into the foyer without hesitation. Frank was well known as Salvatore's most loyal and unquestioning lap dog, so as soon as the little man had seen her through the security camera, he had rushed to greet her. Much to her displeasure, the young steward attempted to make conversation with her. Instead of engage him, Frank's azure eyes stared right through him as the fledgling lead her into Salvatore’s study. “Tell him Nadezhda is here to see him, back from Romania.”

Without further pleasantries, the young vampire took his leave, leaving Frank alone within the large, baroque-style study. She stood in front of the large desk within the center of the room, lithe, beautiful curves shifting to face the door. After a few minutes, the door cracked open, familiar footsteps entering the room. As soon as she laid eyes upon Salvatore, Frank bowed low, almost kneeling upon the rich mahogany floor.
“Vashe vysochestvo...”

[murdock]

Salvatore was waiting for the night to come, before he could actually go out and deal with the things he had to deal with. Rumors spoke of Lycans attacking Vampires and he couldn't allow that to happen, he was going to investigate it himself. But for the time being there was only him, his room, the light of a candle and shadows around. In his hand a classic of horror literature laid, opened in chapter five, "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, written in the year of 1764. A book he had read so many times, but then again, there was little literature he actually considered fascinating and for someone over a thousand years old, there came a time when he would have already read everything at least three times.

His eyes jumped from line to line, appreciated every dialog and description of the scene. That was until he was interrupted, someone knocked on his door, whoever did it showed signs of anxiety and even a touch of excitement. With a dry voice he allowed the man to enter. One of his faithful servants took a bow and addressed to him as fast as a train making it even hard to understand every single word he uttered.

"Your son...my lord...He's coming to America, his name is on the airplane list of our company!" Salvatore quickly got up allowing the book to carelessly fall on the floor "What?". He wasn't expecting this, his son returning without even warning him. Then again, Giovanni had always been a bit like him, quiet and distant, so he wasn't fully surprised, part of him smiled inside knowing that he should have expected that from him. The last time he had seen him had been ten years ago when Guillermo himself flew to Japan just to visit him.

He had a great life there, money, power, respect, he couldn't understand why he was coming back. Perhaps the Lycan attacks had already gotten to Asia and he came to help, either way he would tell him his presence wasn't really necessary but quite welcomed. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was too late to ride to the airport, he would land and leave even before Salvatore could enter the road leading there, so he conformed and sat once again dismissing the lower vampire with a hand gesture. He grabbed the book from the floor, trying to concentrate, a task that was proving to be far more complicated now that he had received such news.

Only a couple of minutes later someone else knocked on the door making him sigh and say "enter" with a very tired tone of voice. The man, this time much younger tried talking but Salvatore spoke before he could "Yes, yes, my son is back...I know...Anything else?". The boy revealed a confused look and simply told Salvatore he knew nothing of that and that Nadezhda was in the house, awaiting him. So many people returning in one day, again he dismissed the squire and got up.

His hand forcing the door to open gently, he took steps through the corridor. Nadezhda was one of his favorite servants, someone he had sired himself with a lot of pleasure. He had always had the idea of perhaps one day joining her and his son, it wouldn't be bad at all, she was loyal enough, but those were other plans he couldn't be bothered with for now, with the current situation. It was great having her back, a friendly face he could trust was what he needed, and having two of them now would be even superior.

He made his way to the study room where she was already waiting for him. Always beautiful, the long red air almost shining, the penetrating blue eyes, truly a sight. She showed a high grade of cordiality toward him to which he replied with a warm smile and a small movement of lowering his head. He walked around her until he found himself behind the desk. "Nadezhda, such pleasure to have you back my child...You don't know how much I missed a face I actually know well!". He looked around, he was surrounded with loyal people, but people he knew little about and people he didn't care to know more about.

Sitting down he pointed at a chair on the other side of the desk, letting her know where she should sit. "Tell me, how has life, fared for you?". Still paying attention to her he lowered his eyes toward the drawers near him, opening one of them he took a small wooden box from it, inside cigars of the finest quality awaited, placing one in his mouth allowed it to be engulfed in the flames of his lighter. Making a sign to a young vampire passing on the corridor "Bring us something to drink, and close the door..." to which the boy nodded.

[frank]

Frank dared not lift her head before Salvatore sat behind his desk. In any other situation, formalities meant nothing to her... however, in the face the man she held in such high regard, formalities meant everything. She treated him like the royalty he was. Within their small sect of society, Salvatore had the final word. She shifted upwards and followed Salvatore with focused, cerulean orbs. She couldn't help but blush slightly as he greeted her with such enthusiasm. It meant a lot to her to be so welcome in his presence.

She slid into the chair that was offered to her, keeping her spine straight. Her behavior around Salvatore was quite different than her usual carefree and disrespectful attitude. She valued his opinion above all else, which inspired the well-mannered and ladylike decorum in her. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress as she moved to cross her legs, a flash of shapely leg and black combat boot visible for a moment.

“Your mission was easier said than done, my lord. Negotiations with the Romanian officials were less than smooth. There as a slight incident involving a certain Romanian historian... However, in the end, Bran Castle and Castle Pelisor are now your property, vlastitel moya.”

From the side of her boot where she usually kept a knife, she pulled out four pieces of parchment paper. The papers were curled up, thick black ink showing slightly from the corners of the paper. She unfurled the deeds, placing them gingerly upon her master's desk. “The deeds, milord. Two in Romanian, two in Russian. I requested an English copy as well, but their translator was unfortunately... a bit drained from my meeting with him.” She flashed a devilish smile toward her lord, showing her fangs for a moment.

[murdock]

Salvatore eyed her as she went on to explain how her little "mission" had been harder than expected. Of course he sent her, he knew she would get the job done, no matter how bloody it turned out to become. And now he had the piece of territory he needed. The ancient owners of those lands were great friends of Guillermo, he had fought side by side with them, this would be what they wanted. Most of them had left no family and had died in battle, no matter what history says, so without anyone to take their homes, it was only natural Salvatore would from now on watch over them.

The smoke of the cigar started to fill the air around him as he looked down at the mention of attacking a man. She had killed the translator, and for what? Maybe for being a bit thirsty, Salvatore nowadays didn't really approve of that, but he wouldn't complain. To those worthy to the cause that actually benefited his people he would give them a semi-green card, a certain amount of freedom. He trusted her enough to know she wouldn't be the one compromising their existence. So he remained in silence and said nothing as she passed him the papers.

By the time he got hold of the papers with his own hands, the young vampire butler entered the room once again, carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. Allowing the liquid to drip into the glasses Salvatore exclaimed "Something that isn't blood, I know how much it probably hurts you to drink such things, but try to enjoy finer materials...". He was always trying to get her into the classier things. And he knew most times she tried, that was better than nothing, or at least he guessed so.

Sipping some of it into his own mouth and allowing the flavors to kick in he looked at the book he had been reading. The Castle of Otranto, they had stopped him from reading it in the hours he most enjoyed reading. But everything was fine, since at least the person interrupting was someone worthy and someone with good news. His hand traced the papers "Thank you for doing this, I'll make sure you are rewarded fittingly. They should be preparing a room for you to stay in, since I have no plans to send you elsewhere for now.".

And then another thought crossed his head, his son, still hadn't told him a word since he had returned. He was a bit worried. He felt like something was being hidden from him, or perhaps it was all just a foolish notion, maybe he was just enjoying the town since he hadn't seen America in a long time. The rumors that he had contacts here were also a bit troublesome to Guillermo but again, there was a reasonable explanation, after all, any good Salvatore needs connections around the world. He turned his eyes to her once again "Tell me, what do you know about my son Giovanni?" the reason for his question would later on be revealed.

[frank]

As the young steward entered the room, Frank gave him a suspicious glare. Frank had never met this particular servant before. When it came to Salvatore's safety, Frank was completely paranoid. Salvatore was a powerful man; and, as a rule, men of power usually had powerful enemies. Before he could press the glass to his lips, she pulled the glass toward her to sniff it, her heightened senses would be able to pick up any poison her sire may have been too relaxed to notice. Smelling nothing but a dark red wine, she sighed in relief, nodding a hasty apology to her sire as she relinquished the glass to him.

Still keeping an eye trained on the young steward, she shifted slightly in her chair, licking her teeth in an almost threatening way. “Lots of new servants, I see... neuvazhitelʹnym sviney.” Pushing fiery red tresses from her angular face, she pulled the second glass into her palm, holding the exquisite glassware awkwardly. She pressed her lips to the glass and sipped a small amount, attempting not to show her disdain for the taste. As he thanked her for her service, she bowed her head once more, simply speaking in the same respectful tone. “I will do anything you ask of me, my lord, There is never any need for reward. Your favor is reward enough.” She suppressed a grin at the fact that she would be staying close to home for a while. It was high time the fledglings of their small society learn their place, and learned to fear and admire their leader. Nadezhda took great pride in reenforcing good manners in the young vampires.

Bright eyes darted back to her sire's gracefully aged face, a look of confusion spreading across her lips as he asked her of her knowledge regarding his son. “Your son, my lord?” She paused a moment, her thin brows wrinkling. “I have not seen him in nearly 100 years...”