Leon laid the second half of the screen play down as he read the last page, the script quite thick, nevermind the first half. The movie would be over five hours long before it was cut and edited down to three and half hours. His nearly empty glass of wine was lifted and drained of what remained, and he stood up from the deep cushioned, leather arm chair he had made himself comfortable in, and stretched out his back. With a lick of his lips, he refilled his wine glass with the rich flavored Merlot he was drinking, and then reached for his cell phone. After dialing the number scribbled on the back of the script's binder, he leaned up against the broad rounded arm of the chair he had been seated in. He waited for someone to pick up, a rather groggy voice on the other end answering. "Garth Marson at home?" he asked for the director's name. "This is Garth," the voice on the other end said. "This is Leon returning your call concerning the screen play and the investment." "Mr. Namwroth...Yes. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly," Garth's voice perking up immediately. Leon laid out the terms. "We will produce the movie if you make the changes we request, and that includes releasing it strictly as a fictional medium. Mr. Serandon will have the final say on the script, and he and I, or anyone we send representing us, must be allowed on the set at any time. Our take of the box office sales, as you mentioned is fine. If you agree to these terms, I will send our secretary over tomarrow with a contract." There was a short pause, then Garth's clear voice responded. "We have an agreement, Mr. Namwroth. Thank you for agreeing to produce the picture. I promise you that your investment shall be a profitable one." Leon ended the call, tossed his cell phone down, and then glanced at the gold watch on his wrist. Time to make his rounds and make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. Nicholetta had gone out earlier, with her usual body guards, and should have returned an hour ago. Brian had gone out for some floppy disks, which he trusted more than CDs for saving certain information and backup files on. He too should have returned by now. The High Elder left his suite and checked first on Dominic, who was at his station as usual, with his pal Ryan (Orion really), the vampiric fellow Brian had cloned all those years ago. He turned out to be quite intelligent and useful, and afforded Dom much needed respite to sleep. Indeed Ryan had developed into every bit as much the computer and security wizards that Dom and Brian were. Dom was straightening his station and getting ready to turn in when Leon entered Com Central to check in on them, and after asking them if they had anything to report, which they didn't, he bid them both a good night. He went downstairs to the bottom level next, to see if Brian had returned, which he had, and after telling him goodnight, and not to leave the compound anymore tonight, he took the elevator to the second floor, where Nicky and Jeremy's suite was. Jeremy was in, and Leon greeted him warmly, and then asked if Nicky had returned yet. When Jeremy said she was not home yet, Leon stood a moment in thought, and then took leave of his room. Walking to the closest intercom, he contacted Dom, who had not left yet. "Dom, I need you to call the limo and see what the hold up is. Nicky was supposed to be back an hour ago," he instructed. He had not waited five minutes when Dom called him back to inform him, he was only getting static when he tried to radio the Limo. Leon's cheeks clenched and his spine prickled with chills. He hated it when he got such a bad feeling about something that it raised goosebumps on his flesh. "I am going out to look for her. You keep trying to raise the Limo, or the guards cell phones, and let me know if you hear anything. I also want you to link in to any news broadcasts that are reporting any suspicious incidents in the city. Get in my head and inform me of anything that arises." At that, Leon returned quickly to his suite and grabbed a long, caped trenchcoat from the closet. It was the shadows which delivered him to the streets thereafter. He followed the rout the Limo would have taken to the Govenor's House ten blocks away, his long, steady strides carrying him swiftly along the sidewalks, and across the city streets. Traffic was not what it used to be, owed to the high price of fuel, natural or otherwise. Twenty minutes later his strides slowed, as he approached the scene of somekind of accident. No...it was not an accident, he realized as he closed the ground towards the police cars, ambulance and the area that had been taped off. Even as Leon ducked under the tape, he overheard the police debating amongst themselves, about who was going to be the one to report the incident to Mr. Serandon. Leon's gaze locked on the scrap that remained of the Limo, and then on the one surviving body being loaded onto a morgue gurney. His brows knitted darkly...Body parts...that were crisply blackened. Fingers curled against his palms to make tight fists, his cheeks clenched so taut that his jawline was well defined, and as a police officer rushed over towards him to tell him he could not be there, the chief of police gripped the younger officer's arm to halt him. "That is Mr. Serandon's chief officer. He can stay." Leon's burnt umber eyes flinched and narrowed into slits which cut on Cheif Hammond, the man clearly unnerved by the caged rage within the vampire's eyes. "What happened here?" Leon hissed, and Hammond stepped closer. "Rocket launchers we think. Four that may have hit the Limo at the same time. We think from there..." he pointed to a building roof north. "There," a corner east. "There," and he directed Leon's eyes to a rooftop to the south. "And there," the last location a corner. Leon's nostrils flared. "And the bodies? Where are the rest of the bodies?" Hammond shook his head, reluctant to answer. "TELL ME!" Leon roared. He did not lose his cool often, but he had more rage in him than he normally had to contain. "We had to...scrape what little remained of them, off the pavement and inside of the limo, and bad it all. There was no separating what part belonged to who, and any we could identify, we sorted in separate bags, but peices of clothing, or...or jewelry." Leon's eyes burned on the man. "The bodies...all of them, whatever remains there are, are to be delivered to our loading dock. Understand me? I don't care what strings you have to pull. What time did this happen?" Hammond nodded. "I am very sorry about this incident, Sir. Nothing like this had happened since before...the war...We place the time of the attack at 10:30 sharp. There were some witnesses who heard the explosion, but no one saw anything." Leon just stared at the man. Hammond could only imagine what he was thinking. It was the job of he, the captain, and commisioner of police, to keep people safe on the streets. "I want the security cameras of every store, bank, business, every building that has cameras in this block, delivered to us. See that it is done," Leon growled, and then stormed away, breaking the yellow tape which he strode swiftly straight through. An investigator came right behind him to put it back up. Dom was informed via mind speak of what had happened as he stalked towards on of the corners believed to be a sight of the attack, ducking beneath the tape this time. Even as he tried to sort out every scent there, attempting to place the scent of gun powder with one particular signature smell of flesh, he told Dom and Ryan to filter through ever PC text thread, or coded message avaiable, to search for anything that could link anyone to the bombing of their Limo, and the murder of Tragedy's progeny and body guards. It was useless trying to indentify one scent from another on the corner, and so Leon made his way to one of the rooftops, cutting through the building until he passed in and out of shadows to emerge on one rooftop, and then the other. The scents were easier to seek out there...Fresh enough to linger still, scents he commited to his memory. Neither of the two scents was familiar. Renagades, he thought. Members of some militant group of revolutionaries. The class of their weapons attested to that. Question was, how many were there? What kind of network did they have? How strong were they, and did they have any immortals backing them? Who were their members? There were the questions they had to find the answers to. "Tragedy...Where the HELL are you? I need you," his mental voice stretched out as far as it could, hoping that somehow Tragedy heard him, as his vocal chords rattled his beck with a discordant hiss. Half an hour later he was back at the compound, seated at the security station with Dom and Ryan, helping them feed through millions of text and code threads. They all had a long night ahead of them. Leon would let Jeremy rest peacefully for the night, had insured that he did so by covering him over with his presence to lay him into a deep sleep. Tomarrow night he would inform him of the dreadful news. His beloved wife was dead.
-- Edited by Leon Namwroth at 04:32, 2006-03-18
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"Time is an enigma which the future, past, and present passes through."
The blonde haired youth ( Or so he appeared) had been waiting for the return of his wife..having planned to surprise her with a romantic night..candles, wine and so on. Jeremy would steal his wife away from her work as often as he could get away with or meet her with a hot bath and massage when she returned. When she was away and he could not be with her, the angel occupied himself by helping Brian or whoever needed it around the compound. Nicky was adored, admired and loved insanely by him. He supposed he had loved her the first night he had seen her. It had grown in leaps and bounds..and when she had consented to marry him..well, he had been overjoyed and the whole compound was not spared his happiness. She always had told him he worried too much about her, but he had learned to trust in her abilities and those of the ones who went with her rather than live in fear that any moment she would be harmed or worse. It wasn't until Leon knocked on the door and opened it to ask if Nicholetta was home that the angel began to worry.
Jeremy wouldn't have slept peacefully if not for the deep sleep Leon had laid him under. He would not have slept at all. As it was, the youth had been forced into a restful sleep..rest that Leon had afforded him at least this night. Blonde hair splayed over the pillows, his lean body tangled in sheets scented with his wife's scent..and his own. It was a dreamless slumber and one he would not wake from until he was roused from it.
Leonardo woke with the sunset and dressed himself comfortably in a pair of black cotton pants, with a long, indian muslin shirt that was likewise black. His feet he shod with a pair of soft leather boots that laced up to the knees. Silent steps delivered him to the elevator and up one floor, then along the corridor to Jeremy's suite. He paused a moment outside the door, inhaled a deep breath, and then knocked on the door. He waited until Jeremy answered, his tones groggy, for the sleep he had lulled him in would not have long wore off. Opening the door, Leon slipped inside of the living quarters of the apartment, closed the door behind him, and waited for Jeremy to join him. When the angelican emerged from the bedroom, Leon's dark gaze pinned him. "Jeremy, please sit down," a grave warning in his tones. If Jeremy hesitated to seat himself, Leon would step in front of him, clasp his shoulders, and physically urge him down onto the couch, at what time he would release him and step back, standing over him. He gave a moment's brevity to silence, and then conveyed his grievous tide to be done with it. "Jeremy, I am sorry to inform you, that Nicholette has been killed. She was on her way back from the govenors house in the limo when the assault occured. Rock launchers were employed, and no one survived the attack. There was not even...any remains to speak of. Four rockets struck the limo at the same time. We believe a militant organization carried out the attack. I am very sorry for you...for us all." He remained as composed as he could, but the rage seeped into his voice to make it waver slightly, and ignite a cool burn in his eyes as he held Jeremy in his regard. "I have other matters to discuss with you as well, but it can wait for later, after you have had time to grieve the loss of your beloved wife." He had a potential job for him, which Tragedy had to approve first, but it would aid in distracting Jeremy from his loss, and also reestablish an old passion of the angel's for acting.
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"Time is an enigma which the future, past, and present passes through."
It had not been long that Jeremy woke from that deep sleep that had his body and his wits sluggishly pulling themselves together. For several minutes he had sat on the edge of the bed once he had pushed himself out of the comoforting warmth of the covers. His gaze had moved over the empty bed..Nicky had not come to bed. He would have known. Still groggy, it was his thought that she had been occupied all these hours..wait..how long had he been asleep? Before he could dwell on that for long..the knock fell on the door of the suite. "Come in.." Jeremy's sleep thickened voice called from the bedroom, his clothing sleep wrinkled ..hair toussled..if it was Nicky..well it wasn't was it? She wouldn't have knocked. His mind was struggling with flipping and twisting thoughts into some order. Shaking his head as if he could shake the sleep off of him...Jeremy finally wandered into the other room to find Leon waiting for him. A smile crested his lips as he dragged a hand through his hair. With Leon's tone, the sleepy smile faded and those green eyes winced slightly..."What is wrong?" a sense of dread slithered over him and it showed itself in his eyes..that moment of hesitation was met with Leon moving to urge him down by the shoulders onto the couch. That moment of silence spanned for Jeremy like some gaping mouth..dark and stretching wider ..his own pulse thrummed loudly in his ears. He didn't say it..didn't ask if something had happened to Nicky..to say it might make it so..maybe something else had happened..and Nicky was helping someone that had been hurt or something? Already grasping at other things than the fear that gripped his heart coldly. "Jeremy, I am sorry to inform you, that Nicholette has been killed...." That was all Jeremy heard. He saw Leon's mouth working..but he could not grasp all of what he was saying, he felt..sick. So sick. Jeremy had shaken his head..even whispered that it was a mistake..but Leon's mouth kept moving..a droning sound like..the buzz of bees on a hot summer's day..when not even the air stirred. Suffocating. So hot..you couldn't breathe.. His hands wrung together, Jeremy stared at Leon's mouth..his eyes for some hint of misunderstanding..possibility of doubt. There was only absolute certainty..Nicky is dead. I am sorry. A loss for them all..grieve the loss of your wife. "What do I do without her?" Jeremy's voice was barely a whisper, the question wasn't even directed to Leon..he suddenly ..lost. Unaware of the tears that had welled and spilled to leave wet trails on his cheeks.
Jeremy, when he had awakened..finally, the hitching soreness in his sides..of the attack he had provoked Leon into..earned a surprised hiss of his breath. It took him some moments before he could pull himself from the couch. Fingers slid over the wounds and he cursed Leon for not ripping him to shreds. Cowardly that he would rather never wake than to face a single day knowing Nicky was lost to him..at the moment he did not feel very courageous. He felt dead inside. Nicky's death still seemed like a very, very bad dream he could not wake from. From the couch, he pushed himself and wandered around the suite as if by doing so he could find some place to stand that did not feel so..shaky, ignoring the sorness, When that did not work, he ventured out of the suite and through the corridors to the the cafeteria. Thinking to try to eat..hold on to something routine. Normal. Dishevled and still on bare feet, he took the food and sat at a table. A BLT and a glass of juice. Both of which sat there barely touched. Food held no appeal to him. No one had questioned why he looked the way he looked. Either very smart to leave well enough alone or maybe word of Nicky's death ..no ...her murder..had not spread to everyone. Either way..it was better that no one ask him anything. The too crisp bacon had been plucked out from the bread. Lettuce, he had shredded little by little. Tomatoes..poked at. He wanted to go to the scene..see for himself..just to be where she had been. That thought in mind, the blonde got up from the table, dumped his tray into the trash and then left to find Brian. No doubt any effort to slip out of the compound by himself would be thwarted..maybe he could run an errand for Brian. It would be a reason..he could use to go out. Brian always needed something..disks..something, anything would be enough to have Jeremy volunteering to go.
Brian knew Jeremy well enough to know that he was looking for a reason to get out of the compound. Problem was, Leon was paranoid now, and Brian knew that too. No one was to leave the compound for any reason without informing him. "Tell you what, Jeremy. I need to get the hell out of here myself. How about instead of you getting me the disks I need, I walk with you whereever it is you wanna go?" he proposed. Even as he did this, he was telling Leon he and Jeremy were going out, on foot. Their faces were not well known, unlike Nicky whose pictures had been plastered in magazines and news papers for years. Indeed Brian and Jeremy lived a lot like hermits in the compound typically. "We can't be seen leaving the compound, Jeremy. We have to go incognito," he related, actually relaying what Leon was telling him. Fact was, Leon intended to ghost them. They would never know he was there, unless danger threatened them. If Jeremy agreed to what Brian suggested, the handsome, flaxen haired vampire would smile and hop out of the chair he was seated in by his computer. He was running some routine tests on Ryan. "Well lead the way, bro," spoken with a grin. He had always been fond of Jeremy, as well as attracted to him, although he tried very hard to conceal that fact, well, since that little incident so long ago before he had married Nicholetta anyway.
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"Time is an enigma which the future, past, and present passes through."
Jeremy had slumped in a lean against the wall and when Brian suggested that he would go with him, needing to get out of the compound himself..the blonde angel shrugged and pushed himself from the lean he'd taken. "Alright man, I just need to get out ..get some fresh air. You know..I miss being outside..where I can breathe.." where that came from? It was true, and he meant..out of doors..fresh air..beautiful forests..rivers. What he said had seemingly been random, but in Nicky..she had been all things to him and in her..his soul, his heart..his spirit was nourished. He had needed nor wanted for anything more but her love. Now, he loved Tragedy, Casey..Brian..all those he had lived in the compound with for so very long but he and Brian lived like hermits for the most part. His gaze followed Brian as he finished what he had been doing all the while informing him that they could not be seen leaving the compound. "I suppose so..after.." Jeremy let it go, the words dying on his lips. Fingers pushed through the toussled blonde strands, a tired gesture. If anyone..he could confide in Brian after they were out of the compound..that he wanted, no needed to see where it had happened. There was an underlying edge in Jeremy's quiet manner. An urgent desperation. A slight twitch of his lips was made when Brian hopped up from the computer with a grin to tell him to lead the way..did he know about Nicky? No doubt Leon had informed everyone..still, he almost resented the fact that Brian was grinning. "Okay." as soon as they were ready, Jeremy did 'lead' the way..right out into the first safely vacant alleyway in the city..targeting the ones within blocks of the scene rather than those exactly closest to the places Brian liked to get his supplies from.
Traveling incognito angel style, Brian thought to himself with a chuckle, as Jeremy opened that quantum gateway. The angel had done well to master all of his innate gifts after years of practice under Casey's instructions some years back. Brian found the gateway fascinating. The way it wavered like a thin layer of water standing on edge to refract the alleyway Jeremy targeted ahead of them, while the lab they left behind was then visable from the other side until Jeremy disjoined the forces he had harnessed. Instead of feeling like you were falling, it felt...well, cold and sticky. He wondered if it was not a worm hole of sorts. That strange, wet, chilly, clingy sensation did not linger long once they emerged into the alleyway and started walking however. "That was interesting," he mentioned, a glance paid to the angel at his side. He had never stepped through a quantum gateway before. "So why did you really want to leave the compound, Jeremy?" he asked, after minding their surroundings to find they were quite alone, or so it appeared. Leon had locked onto the duel presence of the two and followed via the pathway of shadows, and there remained cloaked as he tracked them, his cloak concealing his own presence. "And, Jeremy...Don't think I am at all apathetic about what happened to Nicky. I was never close to her, but I am pained by her loss. I just wanted to do the impossible, and cheer you. Forgive me if I offended you." He had caught that look Jeremy had thrown him earlier and did not want him to think he was in any way indifferent to Nicholette's death. "Now, where are we off to?" he reiterated, certain it was more than fresh air Jeremy was after. Jeremy was not the only one who suffered. Tragedy's absence was hard on Brian, and it was plain to him that the fact worried Leon as well. Brian would be kept very busy soon however, for even as he walked with Jeremy, Dom was getting a call from New Orleans, concerning a plague which had just started spreading in New Orleans. Denoir was going to send Liam to New York with all the information Brian needed. A cure needed to be found and fast, before it spread to other states. No matter how tight security was, scared people always slipped through. Problem was, anyone who contacted the plague by ANY means was infected by it, so no samples could be sent. So how did one find a cure for a plague they could not run tests on? That was for Brian and Liam to help them discover.
-- Edited by Leon Namwroth at 17:41, 2006-04-30
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"Time is an enigma which the future, past, and present passes through."
Jeremy had delved into the hours that he spent with Casey in those years past learning everything and anything Casey opted to teach him. Then, he had always been an eager student..when it came to something he was passionate about. Once they had stepped through the wavering gateway..even Jeremy gave a little shudder. The cold wet sensation..or was it just the chill that had not left him since Leon had delivered him the news of his wife? What would it be like..to just linger in between. Stay within that wet, cold ..sticky, wavering porthole..just stay there. Funny..to himself at least, Jeremy's lips parted in a quiet breath of laughter. "Was it interesting? Wonder what it would be like to just stay there..see if you could be spit out some place you never intended or if you could just stay there indefinitely?" After a moment, his shoulders shrugged beneath the thin tee shirt when Brian asked why he had wanted to leave the compound. Jeremy had to bite back the sarcasm..why did Brian THINK he wanted to leave the compound? Unaware that Leon was tracking the two of them even now, his gaze lifted ahead of them as they walked. There was most definitely an underlying tension within him. Brian went on to assure him he had meant no offense, or indifference to Nicky's death..which took the venom out of the words Jeremy had lingering on his tongue at the ready to lash out at Brian with. There was not a harsh bone in Jeremy..not with those he loved as he loved Brian and the others he had grown closer to over the years. "I know. Forgive me if I am quick to lash out..I never dreamed of a day I would lose her." his answer came in a quiet hush. If it seemed he believed himself the only to suffer..Jeremy would have apologized and felt even worse for seeming that way to anyone. "You have always been good to me Brian, I just need to get myself together. " He was well aware of Tragedy's absence..and until Nicky's death..had himself strived to be good company and a welcome distraction for Brian. Reaching out, his fingertips brushed Brian's sleeve..Jeremy turned to him with an answer as to where they were off to. His tongue wet his lips..and there was a definite tremor that could be felt in the light grip he claimed on Brian's sleeve. Jeremy's eyes were wide, an anxious need revealed within the mirroring pools he held his friend with. " I need to see where it happened. Whether you will come or not.." his throat moved with the effort it took to swallow his emotions down, Jeremy's lips quirked after a moment into a faint smile that did not reach his eyes. "Then..where ever you want..neither of us are out very often..we can pick up some things you need." And..keep walking..walking...never come back. There were some strange notions floating in that pretty blonde head of his.
Brian's hand smoothed back his flaxen locks as Jeremy apologized in tones that remained keen with his grief. Brian could have cut the rage Jeremy breathed with a knife. He was as angry as he was grieved. "No need to apologize, Jeremy. Your mood is more than understable. I am just...not very good with people, never was." His own sort of apology offered. When he spoke of needing to see where it happened he nodded. "Alright, and I will accompany you. I promise not to crowd you." He was not sure what Jeremy hoped to gain by going there, but he understood the need he felt. Brian was not too confident in what to talk about either as he walked along with Jeremy, so he decided not to speak unless Jeremy said something. He lit a clove cigarette as he walked with Jeremy and offered the angel one. He had started smoking a clove blended tobacco as a way to be close to his sire, as strange as that might seem to someone if he admitted it. He missed him dreadfully and constantly worried that he might never return. Leon reminded him frequently, when he asked if he had heard from Caine yet, that Caine could hold his own whereever he was, and that vampires could retreat for hundreds of years at a time and then show up out of the blue. That had not been much of a comfort to Brian. Brian kept his smokes in a handsome black tin with Japenese artwork on it in silver. It had been a gift from his sire as was the matching zippo. He rolled his cigarettes in a rolling machine. Brian had always been a heavy smoker and the filterless butts which piled up in the ashtrays around his work station left little to betray about that. Jeremy was the one who usually emptied them, just because he was a considerate guy that way, and Brian was forgetful about the little things. Brian always thanked him. As they passed a little liquor store along the way, Brian ducked in and got two bottles of Jagermeister, tucking one into Jeremy's jacket pocket while he broke the seal on the cap, unscrewed it and tossed it aside on the other. He drank liberally as he strode along beside Jeremy. When they reached the sight of the assassination, his strides slowed and he seated himself on the curb of the street corner to just watch over Jeremy as he went about his business there. He did not want to be obtrusive. If Jeremy gave any sign of wanting him near, he would go to him. Jeremy had wanted to go out alone initially after all, so Brian did not feel it was wise to loom.
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"Time is an enigma which the future, past, and present passes through."
