Strange Fruit

Thursday, 25 Sep 2014
Natchez MS
23:37 hrs, CDT

"♫South-ern trees bear Stra-ange Fru-uit, ♪"

Billie Holliday wailed over the car stereo.

"♫Blood on the Le-aves and blood at the ro-ot."

"How the fuck is this even on the radio?" Renny grumbled, fumbling for the preset keys.

"What is the matter?" Alona asked plaintively. Though she had not asked directly she was aware that something bad had happened earlier this evening. Something that he refused to talk about beyond saying that he was glad she hadn't been there.

The radio found the next station.

"♫Swinging in the autumn breeze. Stra-ange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.♪"

Can't be a coincidence. Renny grabbed the dial and rolled it until he found another station.

"♫... the bul-ging eyes and the twis-ted lip ... ♪"

He slammed on the brakes and pulled the car to the side, visibly shaking.

"What is the matter?" Alona touched his arm, clearly worried. "You don't breathe, how can you hyperventilate?"

"Don't you know where I was this evening? That song? I …." Renny willed himself to calm, or at least the outward appearance of it.

She didn't get it and that was probably for the best. She'd been having a happy and prosperous day until I picked her up.

"Never mind," Renny said, resetting his priorities. "Look, with the Gios in town every ghost within 100 miles is up in arms. The same song playing over so many stations, that's no accident. Whether it's a warning or just something screwin' with us ... I don't know."

"So what do we do?" Alona asked.

"We get over to Gloomy Gables and help out Rina. That's what we do." Renny put the Mercedes in gear at then back on the road.

Outside Eliza's Mansion
23:20 hrs, CDT

"Get out," Cord growled.

The Gangrel brought his car to an abrupt stop and the jerk wasn't kind to Irina. Her broken ribs stabbed and grated inside her chest and she bit back a scream. She clawed the door open and ditched. Actually, falling out would have been closer to the truth and Cord peeled out fast enough to nearly snag her bag. Saving her gear netted her another hard wrench on her ribs. This time she cut loose with a curse. Cord wouldn't have heard it over the gunning engine and Irina levered up from the pavement in time to see the car door swing shut as he rounded the corner.

Door to door service. Thanks, Cord.

Spitting gravel, she got to her feet and walked onto Eliza's property. Slinging the bag on her shoulder was out of the question. She pulled her gear into the bushes where it would be hidden from view and pulled her trusty M-32 from it. She made sure it was fully loaded and stashed extra rounds in her pockets. Her pistol and back-up piece were similarly checked and spare clips stowed on her person. Holy Water, likewise.

Good to go.

Eliza had already shown forethought in evacuating her Haven but as Irina learned too late, the mansion wasn't the only Haven Eliza owned. Not that it changed her course of action tonight. Irina would take out as many Havens as necessary to deny the enemy ground to go to. That mansion was burning down.

Starting with that thing in the basement.

Crossing herself, Irina painfully straightened and moved in.

The tail lights were still receding along with the exhaust fumes as Renny pulled up. Irina was just getting to the gate.

I never figured Cord for a gallant but wow, just leaving her.

Renny stopped at the gate and turned to Alona."Grab everything out of the trunk, especially the incendiary stuff. I'm going to see what I can see."

Irina ducked behind the driveway gate pillar when she heard the car come up then peered around the brick when she heard Renny. What the hell is he doing here? Not that she was going to turn down his help. She swept the street, saw it empty save for Renny's Mercedes, and left her cover.

"Welcome to the barbecue," she said, her ribs making her hoarse. "Thanks for coming."

"Always here to help a ghoul in need." Renny said with a smile. The echo of his voice came back odd, like an an anechoic chamber. He gestured to Irina with his hand. "Come back this way, slowly. Don't speak."

Eyes narrowing from pain and Renny's odd directions, Irina nevertheless did as asked. Once she drew even with the vampire, she silently raised an eyebrow at him: And?

Renny listened intently to the quiet footfalls of Irina's steps. Less sensitive ears might not have detected it, but Renny's ears were nothing if not sensitive. Sound passing inside of Eliza's compound was not being reflected.

Something is dampening the sound. That is not good.

"What is it?" Irina sagged against the car. God, I don't have time for this. Her ribs were killing her slowly with each breath she took. If she was going to do the job, she'd have to do it soon, while she was still upright and conscious. "You've got that look, Renny. Spill."

Alona closed the trunk and slung two rucksacks of guns over her shoulders. When she saw Irina she dropped them and ran over "Боже мой!, what happened to you?"

"Hey, you should'a seen the other guy," Irina said, her voice going thin. Knowing Alona would only fret until she confessed, Irina relented and added, "Got in a fight."

"I hope you got them good," Alona said, concern creeping into her voice. "Now, sit on car and I will perform miracle."

The hood was closest. Irina slid her ass across the quarter panel and somehow got herself sitting on the hood. That didn't last. A second later she was prone, head swimming and her chest molten in agony.

Alona rubbed her hands together almost in glee. "Now watch," she said to Irina and then turned to Renny, "And you, don't watch."

Don't watch? That struck Irina as funny. "Girl on girl action. Wow, Alona, I'm flattered tha—." Irina gasped as Alona pulled her shirt to her chin. Shit. This is going to hurt.

Alona placed her hands gently, almost tenderly on Irina's bruised torso. For a moment, just for a moment, Irina could have sworn she saw a flash of light from Alona's hands, but there was no afterimage as golden warmth suffused her chest and the pain in her ribs melted away.

Oh, God … Irina moaned like a heroin junkie. Her relief, however achieved, was profound. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she simply breathed. As for her shirt … To hell with modesty.

"See?" Alona said with a broad grin. "Miracle."

"Спасибо," Irina whispered. Now that the pain had been knocked back to something she could bear, the import of her narrow escape finally sank in. Some would say she'd been lucky. Luckier perhaps than she deserved for reacting like a damned green recruit instead of a Hunter with several kills already behind her. Irina didn't overthink it. She sent up a prayer in gratitude for her continued existence and indulged in being prone without excruciating pain. The pain was still with her. Her flesh was severely traumatized but at least her bones were no longer broken. She could work with that. Just a few seconds more, God. I'll move. I promise.

Alona looked at the bruises and other unhealed damage on Irina's torso. "You should wear a vest," she said, tracing a scar with her finger. "I brought a spare."

Renny had looked away before magic flash blinded him. He turned his attention instead through the gate. The top of the house, visible above the wall, looked normal enough but looking through the gate, into what should have been a carefully manicured lawn with decorative hardwoods, was another matter entirely.

It wasn't just sound that was acting oddly it was light too. Even with his abilities, it was hard to focus on what was there.

"It's at the cleaners," Irina quipped, opening her eyes and gingerly sliding off the car. Huh. That didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would. "Thank you. I won't say no if you're offering."

Without missing a beat, Irina wrapped her arms around Alona and hugged her. Sometimes words simply weren't enough to express her gratitude.

Renny continued concentrating on the black fog in front of him, willing it to clear whilst trying to ignore his companions. Great, five levels of sphincter puckering terror wandering about and my two best friends are staging an ad-hoc performance of "Blue is the Warmest Color".

Existence of the darkness was worrying enough, only a couple of people/things in town could create that but with Eliza off the deep end and the Giovanni in town all the planets were out of orbit. Renny centered himself and forced his vision through the darkness.

Renny's mouth dropped open at what he saw. "Da Fuuu ..." The darkness was a blanket of comfort compared to what lay within.

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root…

The lawn and the trees were covered in pulsating flesh. Random organs and orifices peered or oozed or screamed into absolute silence.

Black bodies swinging in the autumn breeze.

Two, no three, vampires either torpored or nearly so. Renny closed his eyes and shuddered, not for the first time this evening.

Something was in there, something with Tzcimece shaping powers AND La Sombra shadow powers.

He didn't even notice that he was hyperventilating again.

Irina noticed. Her sharp ears caught Renny hyperventilating and she snapped to attention, releasing Alona and bringing her M-32 up. She swept the street again. Nothing seemed out of place. She shot a look at Alona and tipped her head at Renny: See to him. She made a fist, whispered the trigger phrase in her mind, and prepped a Lux strike. Stretching her senses hard, Irina put the car behind her and walked out a little, hoping to discover whatever had a non-breathing vampire gasping like a fish.

He could hear his friends tensing, preparing, but whatever they thought was here, they weren't ready for the reality. The aura of the flesh was visible now, glowing in its veins: satiated, ecstatic, feeding, growing with dark magic. The consciousness was there, but diffuse, like a heroin junkie on his first high after a long draught.

Unlike a junkie, it would not be long before elation faded to hunger and as soon as it did, or as soon as they prodded it, it would be after them.

"Ge-Get back in the car," he stuttered, still trying to steady himself. "Now."

"Renny." Irina's meaning was clear: Sit rep. Nevertheless, she backed up to the car. She was aware of his ability to See things mortals could not. If the silver-tongued con man from New York was hyperventilating and stuttering, whatever he Saw had to be hideous.

Renny stepped backward towards the car never taking his eyes off the gates until he was in the front seat. "Let's get out of here."

Stifling a sigh, Irina grabbed her bag from the bushes and stashed it in the trunk. Alona's Healing was solid: her ribs barely protested the bending and stretching the task required. Her other injuries, however, didn't appreciate the extra work and let her know it. Irina would be popping ibuprofen like candy for the next few days, but it wasn't anything she hadn't done before.

Besides, Alona could probably repair my kidneys if I overdose on it.

She slid into the back seat with the M-32 and held it ready. While not meant to be fired in the close quarters of a car, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot if she had to. She just hoped she wouldn't have to. Renny wasn't immune to fire ... unlike Eliza and that was a sobering thought. The Prince had picked up a burning Wille Pete round as if it was nothing more than a rock from her garden. In Irina's experience, that simply wasn't possible. Eliza should have gone up like a Roman Candle.

There's a lot about Eliza that isn't possible ... not if she's playing by the rules. We all know by now she isn't. What else about her isn't Kosher?

More questions rose to the fore and Irina ruthlessly filed them away for later, when they were safe and Renny could answer them.

Alona had climbed into the front seat and stayed silent until the car was down the street. "What happened? Why didn't we go in?"

Irina spared a glance at Alona but nothing more. She was maintaining a steady watch all around through the windows, trusting Renny to answer without any prompting from the back seat. Irina knew she'd hear what he had to say perfectly well without laying her eyes on him.

The road in the wash of headlights was a balm to Renny's mind. "Let's just say we got a third, or maybe a fourth game in town tonight."

Gonna need a score card, this keeps up, Irina thought, eyes narrowing as she surveyed the landscape. The Mercedes picked up speed and the night was stained red from the glow of their passing tail lights. If they were lucky, it would be the only red spilled from that point on. She shifted, adjusting the weight of the M-32. With enough firepower, faith, and smarts, she'd have a fighting chance to see another sunrise … but Irina wasn't so naïve as to believe in luck. It was up to God if she won.

HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN

Bozhe moi = Боже мой! = Bozhe moy = Good god!/My God! Sound clip

Spasiba. = Спасибо. = Oh, yes. Thank you Sound clip

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