Heart Pain (Leila)

Once Leila got close to Chester he stood up and walked the rest of the way to meet her at the closest end of the bridge to the Castle. There he drew a red rose from his pocket, flawless and unharmed, beautiful.

Spoiler:

Leila had seen thousand of roses in her life, if not more, but having this piece of life in this context was absolutely unreal, this was by far the most beautiful rose she had ever seen. Even the guards behind of Chester noticed the rose with awe. Then he said.
"A reward for your effort, I imagine this way have not been easy for you Darkness girl."

Leila took the beautiful rose in her small fingers. For the first time that night she smiled, a smile of genuine pleasure. The essence of such amazing life in an environment filled with death and misery. She twirled it between her thumb and forefingers admiring it for longer than she would normally have done so.

"Thank you, Chester. It is the most beautiful rose I have ever laid my eyes upon."

She looked at him and studied his face, still smiling uncannily bright. She began to wonder about his agenda.

'Was this a romantic gesture? In a place like this? What did he really want from me?'

"So, you have me here... What can I do for you?"

She spoke softly and without harsh pretenses.

The rose quickly wittered in Leila's hands destroyed by the same death energy that had taken all beautiful thoughts from Leila's mind. Just then she realized that she was renewed, that the happiness had returned to her, again she was full.

She looked back down as she felt the rose change. It was saddening for a moment to watch the rose dwindle in her fingers. Not a moment later she felt its energy and vibrancy flowing through her. Her demeanor changed she stood taller and more sure of herself, unaffected by the toils around her. She'd almost glowed compared to the drab around her. She was as graceful and beautiful as ever even with her pale skin.

Her hazel eyes went back to Chester's dark pools, watching his reaction, still wondering his intent.

Chester looked at Leila and smiled again with his wicked expression.
"Death suit you well Darkness girl. May be I should reconsider take you back after this"

Leila giggled and shrugged her shoulders once up and then down slowly. She was playing coy but she was done with the delays.

"Well, I think firstly I would like it if you called me by my name. Then I think I deserve to know what I am down here for. You said you wanted to help me... with a member of my clan?"

Chester smiles and says
"Doesn't your name mean Darkness? or do you prefer to be called by your Human name Sorayya?." he giggles.

Then he continues.
"Now let's examine your point of view as we walk" inviting Leila to follow him inside of the castle.

Leila nods,

"Wow, you seem to know quite a lot about me. I take it I am an interesting subject of study for you!?"

She couldn't help but laugh as well. It was shocking to her that someone would care to learn so much about her in her new existence. In the grand scheme of things, she didn't think she mattered much to the other creatures of the night. Perhaps as a nimble pawn though. She'd thought about just how she was about to be played.

"I prefer Leila."

She said shortly, and sweetly. There was no attitude or sharpness in her voice, just her sweet accent in a direct way. She was not wishing to draw out a conversation on why peoples names have meanings and not the other way around, though she certainly thought it. Tantra's lesson on saying exactly what you mean came to practice here.

She took his invitation and followed him inside.This was after all, what she'd come for.

Chester says without more delays
"Let's consider this: how easy would be for a human to spy on the Followers? highly unlikely in my opinion, let's consider another vampire then, a vampire of another clan spying on the Followers? would be destroyed in a second. So seems that I need a Follower to spy on the Followers, someone that had been already scaned by Elie, foreseen by Stein and Investigated by Hasani and Tantra.

There are many, the beautiful Angel? I don't think so, she might get excited and you know that would be a mess; Cross then? he would ended telling Stein or worse fucking someone instead of working; Pillar? No. Eventually someone will appear, oh wait, someone did! You did Leila! You're perfect for the job!"

Leila stopped in the entrance of the dilapidated mansion.

"What makes you think I'd be disloyal to my clan?"

Leila stared blankly at him trying to gauge his where this presumption came from. Her beautiful eyes glared intently at him.

Chester thinks for a second seriously considering Leila's question, then he says.
"I'm counting on you loyalty! I'm willing to encourage it to the end, I need you to be as Loyal to the Followers as you can be! it may seem easy now but in the future temptation will try to get you!"

Her brows raised, his statement intrigued her. Then after a few minutes her brows furrowed together trying to make sense of what he'd just said. And she found it difficult to rationalize.

"Ok, I'm listening go on."

"Your blood family is in danger" says Chester with an overwhelming sincerity in his words.

"One of the Followers is pretending to be loyal, he or she is a traitor to your blood and your Clan. This traitor is making a terrying deal, he or she, It if you may, has done a deal with the Devil, Apofis itself."

Leila tilted her head down and looked at him.

"Alright, I have a couple of questions for you then. Firstly, how do you know about it?"

Chester looks down at Leila, like she would be incapable of understading, it was obvious that he considered Leila less than equal so he changed from the complex explaination to an easy one that even she could understand.
"I can see the future and I've seen this City destroyed to the ground and every single clue I've found points directly to your Clan"

Leila noticed the authority play and shifted her weight in response. In this world and at this time she knew it to be true but she felt the jab of it all the same.

"You can see the future? You aren't a vampire are you? I remember feeling your hot breath and warmed lips on me in the morgue..."

Her eyes looked at him curiously still gazing through her thick black eye lashes.

Leila's eyes narrowed at the gloom that shown in his blackened eyes, it almost made her shudder. Almost. The girl was playing a bit tougher than usual not wanting to be shown down.

"Alright, is there any information on the terms of this deal? Or just that there is one?"

Even as Leila was focused in her conversation with Chester she continued walking following him as he walked through the maze of the Necropolis, eventually she found herself entering to a crowded place with many other creatures around her, definetely supernatural and unsettling.

Many were twisted, others had the same black eyes as Chester had, others had a supernatural allure that was beyond human perfection, even more beautiful than Samuel's ghouls and like that many were different, some were unhumanly strong with muscles larger than anyother that Leila could have seen before, and so on. There were hundreds if not thousands of these creatures, all were almost human, except for this strange features.

The place around Leila was much like an ancient market with several trading post in it, selling very strange stuff.

Chester said
"We'll get to that, don't worry"

Leila looked around her at the myriad of creatures and beings on display. She looked at the insanely strong ones with a perplexing curiosity and the beautiful with a longing, questioning and admiring gaze. But those eyes, so strange and full of more darkness than she could manage. Their eyes were so strange she couldn't look at them long. Anytime one looked at her she averted her gaze to avoid meeting theirs directly. After all, she had no way of telling what those eyes could do.

It took her a few moments of searching through the creatures for her to realize what was actually happening among them. It was then she noticed the selling and trading of odd materials. Her eyes flickered to Chesters then back over the trading posts.

"I assume these are your people? And there is commerce here? What is this place Chester?"

Over the crowd's loud noise Chester said.
"This is the New York City Necropolis' Market, a place for exchange. We're going through it, I don't have bussiness here, its just the fastest way to where we're going"

Leila followed him through, her brilliant eyes looking to catch any glimpse she could of what was being exchanged and between whom. This "date" was turning into some hell of an adventure. Leila began to wonder where exactly they were going hoping that this would start to make more sense soon she scurried along, a few of the things and creatures still managing to catch her eye.

Leila followed him to the more private area. She took a long sideways gaze at the statues, their poses and the confrontation in their gaze caught her attention. She studied about the colonization of America by the Europeans and this statue seemed to portray that very adversity. Leila noticed Chester continuing to move around the statues and her history reflection halted. There was one lingering thought about metal used for the statues it was difficult to tell without further close examination.

She continued to walk towards him, standing with him behind the statues. Her hands were clasped together in front of her in a very regal manner. Then she smiled a charming smile to fit the mood.

"I appreciate the history represented here. So... shall we continue with our conversation?"

Chester nods.
"Do you have any other question before my propousal?"