Faline

While the Vampire looks around, I take the time to look her over. Around half a foot taller than me, about the everyday average body type of not too thick, not too thin. Hair is shaved on both sides with a mohawk type thing going on, but it's not sticking up, just really thick down the middle of her head, mostly black with some darker blue streaking.

What really catches my attention is her eyes; slit blue. Slit like Nicolaus's. When she catches me looking at her, she tilts her head and looks back. I blink.

"Sorry. I thought the slit pupil thing was an oddity since the only other I've seen with it is Nicolaus."

She nods while coming up closer to me, her eyes dilating. Creepy. Pretty, but creepy. Darker blue, but outlined in a lighter blue around the altered pupil.

"He was a surprise to me too. It's an uncommon trait, but not a rare one."

Nodding while looking past her, I think about it before I see a couple of male Vamps back there. Others who'd corralled Madaline.

"Why did you guys surround her like that? She didn't sound too thrilled with you, and will probably be a horrible enemy."

She shrugs, arms crossing over her button-down shirt. Black, of course, tucked into black slacks over bare feet and directs her gaze to the others that came in with her.

"Madaline is spoiled, always has been, even before she was converted. She'll go into a snit over something very quickly then it's forgotten a week later."

I snort, she looks back at me with a chuckle. Pale skin is darkened just a touch with well-blended make-up. She's pretty, but I have yet to see an all-out ugly Vamp.

The rest of the kitchen crew is still cleaning, avoiding coming near us. It doesn't seem like she's going to answer my whole question. Sigh. Vampires really suck.

What really throws me is her looking to the painting then at me, I don't show a reaction, but I'm sure she sees one in my eyes when she nods for no reason. Crossing my arms now, I raise a brow at her. Her arms are already crossed, so she just makes the same expression.

"So...did you need something or just come to gawk at the weird one?"

"Gawk mostly. Lot of talk going around about you. Some of it I'm pretty sure is blown way out of proportion, but others I know to be true from seeing it myself."

I scoff. Seriously doubt any of it's true. Shrugging at her, I grab a new list off the fridge and add fans to it. Window fans would be lovely, don't see that happening, so box fans will have to do.

It's a good thing everyone around me stays clean for the most part, otherwise, B.O. would be crazy awful in here. With just about every person in this place having a hyper nose, you'd think there'd be some kind of ventilation. If there is, I've yet to see it. Aside from in here.

There's the solarium, which clearly has some sun coming through, I've run through some of it. There's also that one room that Maii and I had run through that I had to skirt around sunbeams. The atrium, I think is what it's called.

I work my way back to Patrice, who hasn't really moved from where I left her, doing exactly what she said she was here to do. Gawking at me. Suddenly I have a picture of signs outside zoo cages on not to torment, or 'Please Do Not Feed'. She may just be looking in, but Madaline is definitely one of those who has to poke a stick through and tease the animal.

"You have me curious now. What things are blown out of proportion?"

She shrugs, eyeballing a food processor that doesn't get used much. Depending on how old she is and how much she gets out, she may never have seen one before. What do the Vamps around here do all day? Screw their collective brains out and sleep? Oh, forgot to toss feeding in there to.

"Well, one thing that's being passed around is that you are pulling the Mistress's strings, the power behind the figurehead."

I choke as I gape at her, my jaw dropping.

For once in a very long time, I'm speechless.

All I can do is stand there like a dork, blinking at her and practice my fly-catching.

Her expression is one of curiosity at first, but when she sees my reaction she just laughs. Shaking myself out of my stupor, I attempt to use those noise things that come from your mouth. Words, yeah. I use words.

"You can't be serious? Someone is blowing smoke out of their ass. I haven't even been a Vampire for very long. I'm still technically twenty-four! Isn't she like, a few centuries or something? Oh my God."

I cut myself off before I start babbling. Lady did tell me she was around two hundred, but I'm not about to reveal that to someone else who may not know. The power behind the figurehead? Christ.

Think both her and Nicolaus would find that highly hilarious. Hell, Anthony would too. I shake my head at her and raise my hands in mock surrender.

"I'm not a power behind anything except maybe snarky comments. I'm pretty good with those, but otherwise, nada."

Keep shaking my head, still amazed anyone would even buy that. Clearly, someone has more screws loose than anyone else I know.

"Are people really believing that? I've only been here for a few days. Not entirely sure how long since this place has no sense of time, but I promise you, it's total bullshit."

She watches me the whole time I'm talking, eyes being all creepy with their constant dilating, no real expression aside from one of those meaningless smiles. Those smiles that have no other purpose but to be in place when you pull a blank face.

"Curious, isn't it? What do you expect though when she lets you get away with so much during your time here without putting you in one of her playrooms? Especially when you had gone after her as if you were trying to kill her."

I wince at that. That one's going to be a little difficult to talk around, so I just make it as simple as possible, leading with a shrug. Blink blink. Innocent is me.

"That's been brought up before actually, and I have no answer or reason. That woman confuses me just as much as any of you do. What they haven't heard is that I was punished. It was just kept quiet so Nicolaus didn't freak out, but trust me, I did bleed for it."

Granted the time I really bled for going after her is this last time. Pretty sure the Vamp in front of me can read it all over me that I'm not lying. Hope so anyway.

"And the reason you kept being moved from room to room?"

That I have to smirk at her over, a glint in my eyes. The submissives know the reason, why doesn't she? Or is she fishing? I see no harm in admitting it, as it wasn't being hidden when I did any of it.

"Those? Oh yeah, those. I kept redecorating them for her."

I try to keep a straight face, but it crumbles after only a few moments. Patrice looks confused, so I let her in on it, just to be nice.

"I was constantly fighting with Nicolaus's dog, Anthony. We got blood over everything, so we were moved to different rooms. Except for the one."

She raises an eyebrow. I just smile wider.

"I had to teach Max some lessons in manners. His face made for a great scratching post."

Patrice's eyes widen then she bursts out laughing, which surprises the male Vamps in the back. Going from leaning against the wall talking to each other to looking up quickly, looking to me then her and back again, curiosity clearly written on their faces.

"That was you? He wouldn't tell any of us what happened, so we knew it had to be bad. Never did we think a female would be able to do that to him. He's known to be quite the scrapper."

I shrug. In other words, I got extremely lucky. If I'd acted any slower or didn't distract him with my body, I'd be the one hurting from that fight. That explains why so many were shocked about it though.

"I got very lucky then. He'd come in just as I got out of the shower, so there was plenty to distract him with. While he gawked, I went at him fast."

Shrugging again, I think of the people who seem to think I have all this power. I really don't, I just get really lucky in some way or another, or it isn't my strengths I'm using.

The woman is nodding, eyes off to the side as she thinks or pictures things, still looking into nowhere when she starts speaking again.

"All that damage from you? What kind of cat are you? That's another thing going around, no one can decide whether it's something huge or exotic."

Is she serious? All the times I'd been going around, running from one side of the house to the other, and no one knows what I am? I look at her skeptically but answer anyway.

"Ocelot. Looks almost leopard-like, but smaller by a lot. If I had to guess, I'm only like thirty-some pounds or so. When it came to Max, I was able to wrap myself around his face pretty quickly. He got hits in, my back was covered in bruises, so it's not like it was all one-sided. Besides, he pretty much said Madaline had sent him after me, so he got what he had coming."

She looks up at that, then nods as if she should have suspected it. Patrice stares right at me as she asks her next question, as if the truth will be written on my face.

"And all the changes in here? Why would she do them? The Mistress isn't known to be so giving or reasonable."

Inclining my head a couple of times, I keep eye contact with her and bring up my explanation.

"I'll agree about the not reasonable part, and can't explain the giving part. She ordered me to work in here as payment for the damages I've caused. I'd bitched about how the 'slaves' here get treated, so I was put in charge of their nutrition intake. I'd made a list of things that could be used in here, all the big stuff was either a joke on my part or her getting it for her own reasons."

Pointing out the salad bar, fryers, spit ovens, and the various other machines that were here when I came in, I keep explaining.

"The table arranging wasn't me, nor was all the new counter space. All I'd really wanted were the meat slicers to make things easier and faster. When I asked her about it, she said it was just money and left it at that."

Blue eyes finally blink and look away as she looks out over the room. Lex, Scarlett, and Maii are walking back in. Scarlett's face is down and looks very red.

Walking over to her, I raise her face to look at me. Her blue-hazel eyes are opened wide to keep moisture from falling, lip showing a slight tremble. Giving her a warm smile, I take her hands in mine.

"I know you hadn't meant for all of that to happen, but I have to thank both you and Lex. Laughing like that again felt really good, I'm just sorry it was at your expense. Think we'll have someone else do the french toast next time, it seems to fight back when Lex does it."

Grinning at her, the last jab at the male gets her to smile. We both look over at him and he mock pouts before giving one of those killer smiles that can draw anyone to him. Pretty sure that smile is what landed him here.

"We also have to keep him away from the powdered sugar. I think he may have been snorting the stuff."

Mischievous smile in place, he leans against one of the counters. Everyone's waiting on me to get things started back up again, the white cloud, for the most part, having dissipated with all the time that's gone by.

Sending her over to everyone who offers their comfort while I go back to Patrice, the look on her face is unreadable but seems good... I think.

Oh yeah, I was nice to a lower being, shame on me.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I dare her to say something. She does, it just takes her a moment to find her tongue. Seems her inner cat had grabbed and run with it.

"I've seen how you treat everyone here before, but it still amazes me every time. This place is old, way older than you would think and things have really slowed here. No one's really living, just surviving as best as possible."

Touching my arm, she moves me closer to my fridge and talks lower after she nods to her friends. It makes me real nervous, so I stiffen. Patrice pats my arm and smiles, then starts whispering very softly.

"There are those of us who've been enjoying the uplifting atmosphere that you've been creating just by being here. You're not like anyone else. This house has been stagnant for many years, and just within the past week that you've been running around, things have been changing."

A week? It's only been that long? It feels like I've been here for months.

Clocks.

This freakin' place needs some freakin' clocks and some freakin' open windows! No wonder everyone is 'stagnating', there's never anything different going on. It's just all one long day that goes on endlessly.