A cold smile formed on her face as an animal hunger filled Sabin's eyes. "I take you for a man that cares more for his image and power then for those he takes in." her voice had grown cold and dark. the gold band on her tail shimmered and formed into the dagger she had attacked him with. pulling her tail back along his skin she left a line of blood before plunging her knife into his wrist, again missing all but the skin as it slipped through. this time she did not pull it back out but held it there, the point towards her. if he tried to pull his wrist from the blade he would rip the skin more and risk cutting the veins in his arm. "Darius has said that the pipe should not be harmed but you can be." her tongue snaked out and licked her lips. "I on the other hand think that your pipe should be the first to go, so beg me for it to survive this encounter." pulling the pipe out of her belt she held it between her hands ready to brake it.

don't worry I am not that anger that I would destroy it but he dose not know that and he needs to learn. her thoughts were cold and filled with shadows as she stood there proud and ready.[I]this way is a lot easier to speak with you and others not hear, yet what are you that you can hear me?[/I]

The man screamed in pain once more when Sabin’s knife like tail stabbed his wrist. Why did this woman persist that he beg for mercy? When she spoke of Darius he looked at the other man, his eyes were filled with hate at this point. A dark laugh came from him. “You care that little for me Darius? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since we have rarely seen eye to eye.” His gaze shifted to the pipe within the woman’s hand. For a moment his features shifted from one of anger and hate to one of sadness. He let out a sigh. His pipe was something he didn’t wish to lose after all it had belonged to her. “Please, do what you want with me. Just don’t break the pipe. It’s one of the only things that I have left of my beloved Odessa. So please at least leave it whole.” A tear sled down the man’s cheek as he spoke the name of the woman whom he had lost so long ago.

Darius just continued to watch with amusement. In some ways he wished that he was the one punishing the piper for his misconduct. Oh, I’m not worried. I trust that you’ll do what needs to be done. Though I will admit for a moment I did fear you would break the pipe just to spite him. If his pipe were to be broken I wonder if he would lose what little sanity he has left. His teal eyes shifted between the two. A chuckle came from him as he heard Piper ask if he really cared that little for him. “You misunderstand Piper. I care more than you think. Not that you’d truly understand.” In a way his words seemed harsh yet gentle.

Once more the vampire’s attention turned to the woman. That it is. I told you before that there are other creatures out there. I, my dear, am a vampire. We can talk more about this if you wish after you’re finished with our friend over there. He gave her a dark grin. Shall I watch or wait for you over there? The man nodded towards the tent in the direction they had been heading before Piper interrupted them.

As the piper started to ask her not to brake the pipe Sabin tilted her head up a look of triumph on her face. this was what she needed for him to lose all power over her. he now feared what she would do to him at her hands, granted it was he pipe not his body but that was all that was needed. "Take it, you hold no power over me now, and you never will." with disgust she tossed the pipe at his feet as she let him fall. she now knew how to hurt him more then any other thing in the world, he would not try what he had done again. "know Piper that I will brake your trinket if you try to make me your puppet again."

with in her she wondered if she truly would be able to do as she said now kn owning what value that pipe held for him. turning she walked towards the tends that Darius pointed out. the shadows as they formed a cloak around her passed the piper by flicking as if to cut him again. all I needed was for him to be in my power, I could not have him have power over me. she looked up at Darius in surprise that he was a vampire then she smiled. I should have know that you were also a creature not of this world. she stumbled the pain only now returning as the Adrenalin wore off. the shadows scattered to the four winds as her hold on them faded. "I am going to need a bit of help, Darius."

The piper landed hard on the ground by his pipe. He glared at the woman. “We shall see who has power over who, but not on this night.” The man took her words as a challenge. Her present state didn’t appeal as much to him as when she looked like a human, but the audience would love it. They would see who was stronger at a later time. The male got to his feet and disappeared between two tents with his pipe in hand.

Darius moved to by Sabin’s side, sliding an arm around her to support her. “That’s fine and might I add that you did wonderfully with dealing with Piper.” There was still a grin on his face. The woman had impressed him. He supported her as they walked down the path to the outskirts of the circus. “You can rest soon.” The man could see that he was still having trouble walking so he stopped. In one shift motion he picked the woman up and carried her the rest of the way to the mansion.


Once there he had his butler go to get the first aid supplies. The man carried her up to one of the guest rooms. “This shall be your room as long as you wish to stay. I’ll have the maid bring you some food and clothes. She can also help you with anything else you need.” He sat her on the bed then stepped away. He gave her a reassuring smile before taking his leave. “I’ll check on you later.”

((If you want we can time skip to the next day or something. I'll leave it up to you.))

"piper dont challenge me. I do not have the nerve right now to not brake you if you push me." her voice was a grow as he scampered off into the dark. Sabin really did not want to deal with him at all but she may have to fight this battle again if she kept in contacted with Darius. sighing she allowed Darius to help her walk a little ways. "I did what I needed to do so that he would not fallow me into my dreams. I am tired of fearing all the humans that go bump in the night. to long have I been locked in my own home with fear." sighing again she leaned her head on his shoulder wishing he would pick her up and just carry her away from here. seconds later when he did do just as she wished she Eeped in surprise. wrapping her arms around his neck she laid down upon his shoulder. the blood lose was getting to her and she had lost a lot more then she had realized when she fought the piper.

when they entered the mansion she was just awake enough for her to realize that there were more then him in the house.are they also vampires or humans her mind voice was groggy with sleep as she realized that he was talking to her. looking around she realized she was in a room nicely decorated but the theme she really was not catching at the moment with sleep tugging at her mind. "sleep now, people later." curling up she fell into sleep without thinking about where she was and who she had just turned her back on.

Hours later she jerked awake a scream stiffed as she came out of the nightmare of unnaturally wide grins and puppets lined up on racks each one crying out to be let free. her mother had taught her never to scream when waking from a nightmare, for the danger that hunted her dreams might actually be in her room with her. falling back onto the bed she sighed an looked around. where was she? she remembered being carried, and the fight with the piper but other then that she had no recollection on what had happened.

Outside of the guest room the raven haired man leaned back against the wall massaging his temples. Things had gotten rather out of hand and complicated as well. He let out a sigh as he stood there. “Sir you look paler than usual. Is something the matter?” A soft voice came from beside him. Glancing over he gave the petite woman a smile. “Not really Kat dear. It’s just been a long evening with some unexpected results. Please take good care of our guest. She’s has had a rather traumatic evening. I think she’s already sleeping, but go ahead and leave the good and drink for when she awakens. Also tend to her wounds.” Without another word Darius moved from the wall and disappeared down the hall.

“Yes sir,” Kat said with a curtsy. The woman knew that the master of the house was lying, but said nothing as she watched him leave. Quietly she entered the room, setting the tray she carried on the round table on the opposite side of the room from the bed. She moved over to the stand by the bed where the pitcher and basin sat. Picking up the pitcher she poured the water into the basin then placed a cloth in the water. She turned to woman sleeping on the bed. “Poor dear,” she cooed as she rang out the cloth and went about washing away the blood on Sabin’s arms and legs. Her eyes narrowed when the wounds were more visible. “That bloody Piper did this to you didn’t he? I don’t know why Darius puts up with that man. If I have my way about it that bloody mad man will die for all he’s done.” The woman’s words dripped with malice and hate. Once finished with rewrapping the sleeping woman’s wounds she took it upon herself to sit in the room for a bit, to watch over her dear master’s guest.

Kat had fallen asleep in the chair a little ways from the bed. Her ears twitched to the noise of movement from nearby. Her golden eyes opened slightly. A small smile appeared on her lips, it seemed the woman was awake. The woman did her best not to frighten the other as she got up to move to the bed. “Did you sleep well hun? How are you feeling?” Her voice was soft and velvety as she spoke. Realizing that she was invading the others spaces she moved back a few steps. “Where are my manners? I am Katrina, but you may call me Kat. I am one of Darius’ maids. He asked that I look after you.” She gave Sabine a warm smile. Letting her words sink in before speaking any more.

Turning at the sound of movement near her, Sabin drew her tail dagger up over her shoulder as she looked at the woman. Watching as she moved forward Sabin thought over her questions. "not well." slowly her tail moved back away from where it had been when Kat backed off. Something about the woman seemed off to Sabin but she really could not understand what it was. nodding when she introduced herself Sabin sighed.

"sorry, I did not have the best of exspearance this last night and well, I am going to be jumpy." grabbing her tail she started to twirl it around her finger as she watched the maid. "I did not seel well as nightmares hunted me." yawning she lay back down on her side facing the young woman. "You are to look after me? and what if all I want to do is go back to my home?" not that she really wanted to go home right now, some how knowing there was some one in the building that she was in that did not have intentions to kill her made her feel better.

"what time is it anyways?" she looked around trying to find any thing that would tell her the time of day or night it was. She had never had a phone and since she never went out of her house she never had need of a clock. it was only now that the lack of those things came crashing down on her. Not that a phone would have done much good for her, she knew no one alive in this world or any other.

her eyes driffed to her wrists and the new bandages. pulling the blankets back she found that her legs had also been bound up in clean band aids. "who did up my wounds?"

The petite woman chuckled slightly. The woman was full of questions which was a good sign in her opinion. “Darius didn’t tell me the details, but I could somewhat guess what happened. I’m sorry that you had such an ordeal while visiting The Noaptea Iluzia. Normally such things don’t happen and the circus is a peaceful place full of mystery and fun.” It was clear that Kat was not afraid that Sabin would attack her. She understood how the other woman felt.

“Yes, while you stay here within this mansion. Daruis has instructed that Nathanial and I look after you. You may leave whenever you wish to. All that our master and us as well ask of you is to at least let Ciaran or Rayne escort you home.” A smirk formed on the woman’s ruby lips. “Though I’m sure if you asked him master himself would escort you.” She gave the woman a wink.

Time? Kat herself wasn’t really sure of that. She moved over to the window and pulled back the burgundy velvet drapes. In the distance the sky was getting lighter. “It’s almost dawn.” She moved away, leaving the drapes open. Her golden eyes looked closer at her. She hadn’t seen someone like Sabin before so she wasn’t sure what race she was of. If the woman before her was feeling better and wasn’t so confused she would have no problem with bombarding her with questions. Oh well the questions would have to wait she supposed.

Kat smiled. “I did that dear. I hope you don’t mind, but I could just let you go around with blood on your arms and legs and unclean bandages.” Since the woman seemed to have settled down some the Kitsune moved closer, her tail swaying behind her. “About those nightmares. I hope I didn’t bring them when I was tending your wounds and talking to you while you slept.” For now she would do as told, but it wouldn’t stop her from give this young woman ideas.

“I shouldn’t have spoken as I did even if it was about that bloody piper.” Her tone grew harsh as she spoke the last two words. A flicker of hate shown in her golden eyes momentarily. “Enough of that. Master Darius wouldn’t be pleased if I were to upset you.” With her left hand she motioned towards the round table. “There is food and water if you are hungry. Just tell me of anything else you need.” Kat paused for a moment. For some strange reason she felt like she was forgetting something important. She shrugged, she’d think of it later if it was important. “If you would like I can stay for a while, but that is up to you dear.”

Of course the woman was forgetting one of the most important things and that was the main rules for guest at the mansion. Darius hated to be disturbed and to have people wandering about in South Wing. The South Wing contained Darius' personal quarters and private rooms only meant for 'special' guests. The servants quarters were in the East Wing while the guest quarters were in the West. As for the North it contained various rooms including a library, banquet hall, art room and music room.

"well he just happened to have picked the wrong person to pick on." Sabin said her voice growing cold and her eyes unfeeling but moments later the coldness and lack of feeling was warmed with a hint of joy and a sigh. "I would not mind to have an Escort home when I decide to go home. but at this time I dont think that I can go home and feel safe. Having another female around would be nice too. it has been a bit to long since last I had some one to talk to that was face to face. "there were a few people she kept in contact with over the internet but they had never truly met and she wounded if they really thought about her or if they forgot about her the moment she logged off. a slight hint of red colored her cheeks at Kat's comment about the master being the one to take her home.

As Kat moved to open the drapes Sabin gasped as she noticed her tail. she had never seen a person with a fox tail before in real life. she did not think she had even seen one on the internet that was not photo shopped or a drawing. "your a Kitsune!" her hands flew to her mouth as she realized how rude she had just been. here this lady had been treating her like a human being and not once starring at her color or tail. then when Sabin sees her tail Sabin treats her like a freak. " I am sorry I never meant to be rude, I just never thought that... well I should have seeing as I am around and most people would never know what I am." smiling she held out her hand as Kat turned back. "I am Sabin, a Tifling, third generation so I dont really know what else I have in me other then elf." poking the tips of her index fingers together she mumbled. "well great gran is a Drow but we dont really talk about that."

looking back up at Kat as she talked about how she had dressed her wounds she smiled again. "thank you, I would have but it looks like I was suffering from blood loss a bit more then I realized." she waved her hand as if to swat away the thought that Kat had caused the nightmares. "oh no you did not do it, just having a stressful day and all did it. most likely it was because you were talking to me that I got the sleep I did get. You see mom has been dead for some time and I dont have any one living with me."

at the talk of the Piper her eyes grew cold again. "well he will bear these same marks that I do from now on too, unless someone was kind enough to take care of his wounds better then mine have been. I think I would have done more to him but the pain was just a bit to much to handle, lucky for me he missed anything to vitae when he strung me up." at the talk of food her tummy growled and she giggled, the light coming back to her eyes. " oh Gods am I hungry. rebuilding blood and skin can be a hard thing to do if your not used to it. I hope I did not put anyone out having to make me food I was not awake to eat." she wounded if she should go over there and eat or ask if the food could be brought to her. in her own home she ate in bed all the time as she worked on her computer. it was a comfortable thing to have the food right there while she worked. "it would be nice to have some one to be here with me, but since Darius seems to be more of a night guy I would guess you are as well and need your sleep. if you could just give me a computer with internet I would be happy with that."

She was glad to hear that the woman would stay around for a while. It wasn’t often that the master had guests so it would be nice to be able to chat with someone new. She did wonder though why he couldn’t have brought a hot guy home with him. Maybe he would next time. A small smirk crossed her lips momentarily as she thought about Nathanial. She was sure he would take an interest in Sabin, so she would have to tease him. Kat’s attention was turned back to the woman when she heard the word kitsune. A light laugh came from her as she swished her tail. “Don’t worry about it dear. At least you called me what I am. Trust me I’ve been called worse.” Her head tilted to the right when Sabin introduced herself and said she was a Tifling. “Tifling? I didn’t think they existed, but then again it doesn’t surprise me when there are devils like Darius, Nathanial, Ciaran Piper, Vex and myself running around.” Her golden eyes lingered on the woman to see her reaction. If needed she would explain.

“I’m sorry about your mother.” There was a hint of sympathy in the woman’s voice. Kat knew how it felt to live lost and alone without anyone to guide you. She had lost her mother when she was just a kit. She never really got to know her father because he left when she was two years old. “Even after you decide to return home. If you need a place to go or just need someone to talk to feel free to come visit.” The woman was sure that Darius wouldn’t mind her giving Sabin an open invitation.

Another laugh came from the petite woman. “No more talk of that dreaded Piper. Let’s eat and have a nice chat.” Her smile was warm as she moved across the room to the table. It was like she had read the other woman’s thoughts because she picked up the tray and carried it to the bed. “Don’t worry you’re not putting anyone out. There might have been a few complaints, but Darius is known for the odd requests that he makes from time to time. But don’t tell him that.” She winked, setting the tray carefully on the bed. Kat putted the chair near the bed closer and took a seat. A shrug came from her about the whole night person thing. “I do prefer the darkness and night time, but around here we take turns of who watches over the mansion during the light hours. Right now it’s my turn at least until Nathanial wakes. He is the butler that you probably don’t remember meeting last night. Like Darius he is a vampire.”

Kat caught herself as she seemed to be rambling on. “Oh, about the computer and internet. We have both. There is one or two desktops in the library. I’ll have to see if we have an extra laptop if you would rather use it here instead.” She mused for a moment about how Darius wasn’t into all of the technology that existed in today’s world until Nathanial and Vex. If it wasn’t for those two along with Maiara there wouldn’t be any computers or anything of that sort in the house. “Anyway, I hope the food that was prepared for you is to your liking.”

"I do not see how your a devil but then it all depends on who you ask right?" she had never really met a devil or demon so she really could not say about the others but the Piper was one she would not be surprised that he was a devil if he truly was. "yes we do, but we are not of this world... well we used to not be. my mother says that grandfather was doing something when a portal picked her up and dropped her here, she was happy to find that I was not harmed when it happened. although she did go into labor early." she remembered the story of a man that had helped her mother give birth to her and then had left her a bit of money to take care of her child with. he had not spent much time with her after Sabin had been born but he had been kind according to her mother.

"I did not just lose her, she had been gone for some time. I was just growing board in my house so I had to come out and see a bit of the world. I had found a flyer for the cirques in my door and thought it might be a nice place to see." she shivered at the thought of what had happened to her that night. "not what I had been planning to happen. I had wanted a fun time, but I did find something out about my self."

"tell me, how do you hide what you are to people outside of this place?" looking over the food she picked up some and started to nibble on it. "when will Nathanial be waking up? I really dont remember much about what happened after I ripped the pipers arms and legs up to match mine." as she spoke the dreams and sounds in the night came back to her and she shivered without thought of it. subconsciously she knew that this place was a place of danger for her and any of her kind but she did not want to admit it to her waking mind. her blood must have smelled sweet to the vampire, nothing like he would have ever smelled before.

"I have work that I really should be doing and a lap top is the most comfortable to me to work with." she pulled her tail out from behind her and gave a knowing smile. " you know what its like with a tail and human made chairs. I have never found one that was comfortable to me and my tail. I might find one that I could work with for my tail but my bottom hurts afterwards, or its the other way around." taking a few more pieces of food she smiled. "yes it is good, if you ever need help in the kitchen I would not mind. I had to learn to cook to survive on my own."

Kat listened thoughtfully to Sabin. “Hiding is easy with the aid of magic. Nathanial will be waking up around dusk. So until then you are in my care should you need anything.” She gave the other woman a smile. “I’ll go see about the laptop. Also about your offer to help in the kitchen. I doubt it would be needed, but feel free to help out if you ever get bored.” The Kitsune turned and disappeared out of the room. She was gone for roughly 20 minutes to half an hour due to a knock at the front door. Maiara had stopped by, mostly to be noisy. The human girl had very strong psychic abilities and knew that something was up. Kat gave the woman the short version of what had happened before shooing her friend away. Now wasn’t a time to be letting others in. At least that is the way she felt and Mai had agreed.

“Sorry that it took so long. Mai stopped by to ask something. Anyway here is the laptop, charger and some games. Please make yourself at home Sabin.” Kat let out a sigh. She needed to get to work on the tasks that Darius had asked of her. Really she just wanted to stay here a while longer and get to know their new guest. After all it was such a rare occasion and normally she was stuck around men most of the time. “There are some things I need to attend to and errands to be run. So I shall take my leave for now. If you need anything just call out my name and I’ll come.” As she spoke she handed Sabin a silver necklace with an intricate pendant with a few fiery looking small jewels and a large iridescent one. It was one of several specially made necklaces that Darius had made and infused with magic. “This will allow me to know that you need me if I’m not nearby. If you want to know how it works, Darius would be the one to ask because he’s better at explain that sort of thing. Oh and before I go. There is a map of the mansion on top of the games so that you can get around should you decide to go to kitchen or library.” She sat the items on the bed for Sabin. With another smile and a wink.

((we can do a time skip after this if you want.))

“Then it is a pity that I have never been taught magic if it is useful on hiding. I really wish that I had the ability to hide what I am without the use of makeup and wrapping my tail under skirts and in pants. I don’t go out much but when I do I have to hide so much of myself that it is frustrating.” It was nice Sabin realized, that here she could be herself and be around other people. That they were not freaking out and running away. Maybe she should find out if there were other small groups out there that were made up of other supernaturals like her. Realizing that while she had been thinking Kat had continued to talk she blushed ever so slightly. “Sorry, I don’t find a problem with you being the one to look in on me for the time. In fact I think it is good that I only have to meet one of you at a time. It makes it easier on me. I think if I had to keep up with each of you as a group I might have screamed trying to accept each ones uniqueness’.”

Her smile grew at the talk of getting a laptop soon. Work would be a good thing to help her mind process what was going on and what her white knight had been. Maybe he was not truly a white knight but he was the guy who had saved her from the piper. Who knows what the piper would have done had he found her on the remains of that bed in her full glory. Would he have treated her wounds after what she did to the bed, or would he have let her die? “thank you for this, you do not know how much I have come to realize on working on the laptop and making connections there. I hope that I have not gotten to many jobs in the time I was out, usually I don’t sleep that long so they send me jobs faster than most of the other techs.” She watched as Kat walked out of the room, her fingers without thought kept bringing food to her mouth till there was none left to eat. She had not really noticed that she was that hungry. Maybe she should go out and find the kitchen now for more food.

Standing she realized that there was not going to be much standing and helping in the kitchen any time soon. What ever he had done had really set her body into a tail spin of weakness. Maybe he had had silver in those hooks and that was why her body had gone into over drive on the weakness and pain. Stumbling she landed in a chair by the window. Looking out she sighed, it would be a long time before she would be able to walk home on her own. Her body jerked guiltily when Kat opened the door again. “oh don’t worry I was just enjoying the view. It is a nice house that he has here, how long have you lived here?” standing up she stumbled back to the bed and flopped down as Kat held out the necklace only to pull her hand back. “that is lovely but I cant touch it. I have an allergy to silver, it makes it harder for my body to heal and work. I would love to have it, it is very pretty, if you could get it remade in gold I would be fine, brass or copper would work too.” She hated to turn away such a beautiful piece of work that was made to protect her. But because of that silver she knew that it would exstend her stay here much longer then she wanted it to. “if it would work with it just sitting here on the night stand then you could set it there. I don’t think I will be going any where about the place any time soon.” She smiled and pointed to her legs. “the wounds still hurt.”

“If you have things that you have to do then you should go do them and not worry about me. I can spend hours without thinking about what is going on other then my work. If it wont be a inconvenience I would like some more finger food sent up when you have time. I am going to be really hungry for the next few days so finger foods are the best, ones that will not spoil would be great.” Picking up the computer she opened it up and started it up. “hope you can get everything done in time.” She said before disappearing into her work. If food was delivered she would eat it but other than food she did not notices the time till long passed sunset.

“It can be a lot to take in at first.” Kat nodded in agreement to getting overwhelmed if she met more than one of them at a time. She thought about the woman’s question. “Let’s see, I guess I met Darius roughly 200 years ago. It’s kind of strange really. When we first met I thought that he was the one that was lost, but it turns out that I was the one that was truly lost. He really is an interesting fellow, the way he sees the world is different from most mythical creatures, spirits and demons. Probably because he wants to keep the forgotten treaty that was signed by the leaders of the supernatural races long ago. If you want to know about that asked Darius. He knows a lot more about it than I do. The way we live here is peaceful for the most part and it lets us to interact with the humans without worry.”

It had been careless of her not to think of asking if she was allergic to any type metals before giving her such a gift. “Oh, I’m sorry. That was careless of me. I have another with the pendant set in gold on a gold chain.” The woman rummaged a bit through the pouch on her belt. After a few moments she pulled out a similar necklace that was gold. “Ah, here you are my dear.” This time she just left the necklace on the night stand. If Sabin wanted she could wear it. “Hopefully I will. If I don’t I’m sure Nathanial will nag me because he’ll be left to do what I don’t finish.” She laughed lightly before exiting the room.

Outside of the room the woman sighed again and grumbled to herself. Really she had no choice, but to run the errands that needed done even though Darius had told her to watch over Sabin. Really she doubted anything terrible would happen while she was away. Besides she had given the younger woman one of the special necklaces and with her powers she would be able to come to the others aide if needed. Her tail swayed behind her as she took out her pipe. Kat disappeared down the hall, puffing on the pipe. It was a habit she had when she was thinking or needed to relax. In this case she was thinking over what the best course of action was. If she left for a little while her master more than likely wouldn’t know or even find out. So there wouldn’t be any need to worry about receiving punishment for not obeying his orders. Making her decision she put away her pipe then used her magic to make herself appear as a simple human. Kat smiled to herself, grabbing her cloak and bag before leaving. The woman made sure that the mansion was locked both physically and magically before heading off to the city.

Things took longer than she had hoped they would. Damn some of those human men. It was because of men like them that she didn’t like humans or hardly any males. The woman grumbled to herself as she walked down the street carrying her bags. For now she was fine because she was using her illusion magic to appear human. “Hey honey, why don’t you let me help you with those,” a familiar voice called out to her. The petite woman’s figure became rigid as she stopped. “Go away before I decide to do something to you.” “Awe don’t be that way my honey. I’m just trying to help. Nate and Dar have no right making you do this kind of work.” Kat sighed out of frustration as she turned to face Adin. “I repeat, go away now. I don’t have time for you today.” The man pouted a bit before pestering the female Kitsune further. The pair had a few more words before the man gave up, leaving Kat to her duties once again.

The woman was relieved when she returned home without further incident. It was nearly sunset and she had yet to make some dinner. Kat went around quickly putting things away and going about making dinner. It was ready by the time that Nathanial awoke and entered the kitchen. “Morning Kat,” the male yawned. “Good evening Nate. I have dinner ready. Could you take some to our guest? Master Darius requested that I do something for him after you awoke.” She gave the man a curious smile and wink. He could tell that she was just pushing off the rest of her job onto him. “Fine, go one Kat. Darius will be up soon anyway if he isn’t already.”

Nathanial prepared a tray with the food that Kat had made and took it up to the guest room. He knocked lightly before entering. “Good evening miss. I’m Nathanial and I shall be your guard tonight. Kat made this meal for you and requested that I bring it to you. Probably because she wants to go have some fun before she retires for the night.” The young looking man grumbled the last part. His eyes were cold and emotionless as he looked over their new house guest. He wasn’t sure what to make of the woman.

“if it is not to rude, how old are you? I thought that kitsune got a second tail after their first hundred years, or did I hear that wrong?” she knew that the kitsune would not know that she was blushing at how rude she was being but she still held her hands up to her burning cheeks trying to hide them. If her mother had been here she would have given her a burning lecture for her rudeness.

“that is a very long time to have been living with each other. Have you two every had problems that you thought you would never be friends over?” Sabin realized that if she was going to be living out in the world she was going to have to learn about these treaties that she was talking about. Her mother had told her nothing about them but then she may not have known about them before she died. “so the humans believe all the tricks in the Faire are faked? I have never really known any human to accept that there is magic in the world.” Suddenly she wondered what made the piper the way he was and what he thought it was. Did he believe that his talent was truly a talent or just that pipes ability to draw the one he wanted.

“oh that is ok. How were you to know that I was, there are not that many that are attached to silver the way I am. To tell the truth if I was not injured I would have taken the necklace. I can wear it but since I am wounded I don’t want to risk it making me weak and unable to heal.” Taking the new necklace that she offered her she bowed her head ever so slightly. “thank you very much for this gift. I do not know what I can do for you in return. I know how much this must have cost you to make.” Watching Kat leave the room she slipped the necklace over her head and started working on the computer.

Lines of code seemed to dance before her eyes as she looked up at Nathanial. “its dinner time already? Oh gods I had not realized that I had missed lunch.” A weak smile flitted acrossed her face as she tried to show him a strong face. She felt so weak and helpless there in front of him. She knew that if he tried to do anything to her she would not be able to stop him and that only made her more scared of him. “so what are you and why do you say she is off having some fun?”

“One should know that you never ask a lady her age,” she teased giving the other woman a wink. “I’ll give you a hint though since you seem to know some about my kind. When not using my illusion magic I have a total of four tails.” Kat was glad to see that Sabin was full of questions. She answered them the best she could before leaving. “At first it was kind of rough since the way we thought was different. We have had our share of problems, but we always seemed to come to an understanding. Yes, most humans don’t believe magic is real anymore. So they think everything is just elaborate tricks and illusions.” Kat shook her head. “Don’t worry about it; I didn’t know you were allergic to silver. Also don’t worry about paying me back.”

Nathanial gave her a nod. “Yes it is, miss.” He scoffed at her question. Hadn’t Kat explained everything like she was told? That woman leaving things up to him again was annoying. “I am Master Darius’ butler Nathanial Cartier and like the master of this house I am a vampire. May I ask what you are? I don’t believe I have seen one of your kind before?” His tone was a little on the rough side, but he remained formal with her. “As for why I say Kat is off having fun it’s because I have known that woman a long time. Like most of her kind she is a trickster. Plus tonight is her night off from the circus.” Nathanial studied the woman, getting a feel for her.

He placed the food onto the table and turned back to Sabin. “The Master will be awake soon. Do you have any concerns you wish for me to address with him?” As always the male seemed to be unreadable, but something about his demeanor gave away to his uneasiness. Their guest was beautiful and he could see why Darius was attracted to her. Of course he also knew she was off limits until it was clear how his master felt about her. For now he planned to play his role and keep a distance. His duty was to be an observer and act as a guard.

“I am…” she started to say but then realized that she was teasing her. The blush grew brighter as she tired to calm down. “so you are much over four hundred? I really only know what I had learned from those shows that all the kids seem to love. The AN’e’may?”

“how can they believe that there is no magic with all the magic that is around?” looking about the room she smiled as she trailed her fingers along her arm. “even their computer programming is a type of magic. Have you seen what can be done with the code? Its beautiful.” She had always found that the coding was magic but never had she really thought of it as spells until now.

“oh I am sorry I had not meant to miss lunch. Its just that once I get coding I don’t really see what is around me.” Looking over her pile of stuff and her laptop she sighed. “please don’t go telling your master that I missed a meal, I would hate for him to worry about me.” Climbing over to the edge of the bed she walked over to the tray of food. “so will I be seeing him any time soon? Or is he going to be a bit to busy to see me.” Picking up a piece of food she nibbled on it then looked up at him. “oh was he going to deal with the Piper?”

Kat had given Sabin a Cheshire cat smile before leaving. She would leave the woman up to figure out her age. After all she was close with her guess, but she wasn’t able to tell her true age. Maybe she would later on. “As for the magic. They are humans, they hold no magic within themselves so the belief in such a thing could truly exist within this world grows out of them.” She laughed a bit. “They don’t consider such things as that magic.” After that the woman disappeared.

Nathanial watched her, wondering what all the stuff she had was. “It should be fine as long as you eat something now.” Coding, ah yes something he was familiar with among other things so he could perform the tasks that Darius required of him. “I won’t tell him unless he asks me. Then I will have to answer him truthfully.” The man kept his distance, but wasn’t so far away that it would be uncomfortable for them to talk. Quietly he listened to her questions.

“I’m sure that the master will be by to see you before he heads to the circus. It is true that he is a very busy man, but he would never be rude to a guest.” The young man had noted how she avoided his question on what she was. He would just have to do some research on his own unless his master knew. At the mentioning of the Piper anger flickered over Nathanial’s features. Taking a moment he calmed himself. “You needn’t worry about Piper. Master Darius shall take care of that thing.”

“I can see why you would say that.” She said as she watched Kat go. She would have loved to talk but they both had things they had to be doing. Sabin had to finish up the code she was working on or she was going to be losing an important client. One day she hoped that she would not need to be doing coding for other people. Maybe one day she would have her own company and she would be telling those under her what to be doing.

Smiling Sabin neaten her space. “I understand you having to be truthful to him. he is your boss and it would be bad if he found out you were lying to him.” the computer beeped as she set it up to run tests on the set of code she had finished.

“Do you think that it would be best if I changed before he meets with me or do you think he will not mind what I am wearing?” she waved her hand over the clothes she had woke up wearing. Her tail flicked back and forth slowly as she watched him control his anger. So Darius is not the only one upset with the piper. I wonder what is going to happen to him for what he did? she smiled. “I do not mean to upset you. Its just after what happened I was wondering what he would do.”

It was good that the woman seemed to understand his position. Really it would depend on the situation of why he was lying to Darius, but Nathanial didn’t see any point in explaining that to Sabin. The male took a spot by the window, leaning against the wall. He glanced out, the sun had already finished setting and the dim light on the horizon was evidence that the moon would soon rise. In the distance the lights of the circus twinkled and seemed to dance which caused him to smile slightly. He relaxed a bit.

“Miss, I’m sure that he won’t mind what you are currently wearing as long as you are comfortable. If you wish to change just let me know and I’ll leave.” His eyes watched her tail as it flicked for a few moments before he looked away. His anger was under control and his neutral mask back in its place. “Don’t worry about it. Piper tends to try everyone’s patience. Sometimes I wonder why Darius ever took that man in.”

Nathanial sighed, closing his azure eyes. No, he knew exactly why his master had taken in that devil of a man. Piper hadn’t always been the way he was now. At one time he had been a very good human man. All that changed though and now…well now he was no better than a demon. After a few moments of silence he shook his head, putting away the thoughts of the Piper. “As for what the master will do I am unsure. One thing I do know is that his punishment will more than likely not be light this time.”

“I don’t mean to be a bit testing, its just this whole situation…” moving quickly she picked up a small collection of the food before moving back to the bed. Would he comment on her lack of concern for the sheets or did they make enough that they would not worry about a set of sheets. They felt like they were of value, better then any she would have been able to order from her catalog for a good price. As she looked back up at him she noticed he had been watching her tail. Flicking it again she made the gold bracelet at the end chime. “if I ask anything you don’t feel like answering you don’t have to. I am just trying to understand you and him and this whole place.”

Her computer let out a warning beep causing her ears to seem to flatten against her head, as much as elf pointed ears could. “sorry.” Putting the food on her lap she rapidly hit a few keys before turning back to him and smiling. “there was a coding problem that it ran acrossed. Not to surprising as my coworker was trying to take a short cut. I will have to do a work around to fix that problem if he dose not reply to my message soon.” Swiftly nibbling on the food she got a bit more comfortable.

“is there anything your wanting to know about me? I seem to be the one asking all the questions.” The smile on her lips filled her eyes with a merry twinkle. “I must be as new to you as all of you accepting me without judging my skin first. Also to find that there was a place where supernatural’s seem to congregate…”

“Don’t worry about it miss.” Still the male remained formal with her. The fact that she returned to the bed to eat the food was no concern of his, though if Kat had been here she may have said something since she was the one who would probably ended up having to wash them. His attention moved from her tail when she made the bracelet at the end chime. Had he been staring? “Thank you for your concern, but if you had asked something I didn’t want to answer or couldn’t answer I would have let you know. You are fine. It is understandable that you are curious and want to know more about what you were thrown into due to unfortunate circumstances.”

Nathanial paid no mind to the noises coming from the computer. He merely nodded to her as she explained what was going on with it. “No need to be sorry.” Letting his eyes wander again he looked out at the twinkling lights in the distance. Master Darius would be up soon if he wasn’t already.

“You are quite different from our normal guests. It is rare that I do not know what race our guest is. So if you don’t mind me asking, I’d like to know what you are.” The man’s gaze returned to the woman who sat on the bed. “Yes, I was surprised that such a place existed as well when I first was taken in by Master Darius. He really is an amazing person.” The look within the male’s azure eyes was one of admiration and thoughtfulness.

As the two of them were getting better acquainted Darius was already up and moving about the mansion. Kat greeted him to inform him that she had completed most of the tasks he had given to her. The last one concerning what he wished to do with Piper was going to take a bit longer. This didn’t please the vampire, but he also knew that if his trusted servant was to do her job correctly he would have to be patient.

Sabin nodded and smiled as he talked. They were all so nice to her she feared that the bubble would soon burst on her and the cage her mother always had warned her about would close around her. But how could that be true with these creatures that she had never known were real walking around her and taking to her like they too were fear to do what they wanted. “I was only saying sorry as I don’t know how sensitive your ears are and that beeping took a bit longer to deal with then it should have.” She smiled again.

“I am sorry, I should have told you. I am a Tifling.” Realizing that he probable did not know what a Tifling was she smiled a wider smile. Her longer canines only added to the devilish look of the smile. “I am part dark elf and part Infernal being. You might call me a half demon or devil, though there is a difference between the two. It all comes down to rank. I don’t know what rank my great grandsire was so I can’t tell you if he truly was a Demon or Devil. But it is from him that I get my tail and skin, my teeth are from my father’s side, or so mom said. I don’t know what he was other then not the nicest of a bunch of men.” Hitting a few commands she shut down her computer and closed it. “and I really don’t mind. Its better to ask and find out then to judge and go from there.” Catching her tail she ran her finger along the gold ring there. “this was a gift from my grandsire. He had it made before he was called to fallow the god Sandracool. When mom was born he gave it to her for he did not need its protection any more. She gave it to me before she died.” A sad edge filled her voice but then she smiled again. “any kid I have will not have the skin or tail, though they will still have the ears. That comes down from my Great Granddams side as well as my Granddam and my father, so that has a few more generations to work its self out.”

“yes Master Darius is an amazing person, I think I would have joined his merry band here had someone told me of it before I learned coding.” Thinking about it she realized that even now she could join it and still do work as a coder. “how much tech dose he use in the show and how much is real?”

Nathanial listened to her quietly, nodding every so often. A Tifling, he wasn’t sure what that was so it was nice that she explained. He would have to do some research later. “That is very interesting.” The man gave her a fangy smile of his own. “Yes, the elf may take a while to work itself out. You take good care of that ring and don’t let Kat talk you into letting her examine it. Better yet don’t even tell her what you told me about it.” Chuckles a bit as he imagines Kat trying to persuade the woman into letting her examining the ring for its magical qualities.

Smiles, as Sabin spoke of Darius. “Yes he is.” Her question surprised him. Nathanial took a moment to think about it. There were so many different shows and side attractions. “We use some tech in the shows. It really depends on the show or the attraction. Most shows are at least 50% real if not more. We could probably use another person around here to help with the technical stuff. Darius doesn’t do much where technology is concerned.”

His eyes darted to the door as he heard footsteps approaching. “It seems the Master is awake.” He moved from the window to open the door as Darius knocked on it. “Good morning Master Darius,” bows his head as he motions for the man to enter. Once the older man was inside he shut the door.

Daruis knocked lightly on the door to the room and it was promptly opened by his servant Nathanial. “Good morning Nathanial, Sabin.” He gave them both a smile as he entered the room. His eyes moved to Sabin. “I hope that everything has been to your liking and that my servants have been kind to you. I also hope that you were able to get some rest as well my dear.”

Sabin scoffed at him even thinking that she would tell Kat about the ring. “you think I am that nuts. I know she has a fox’s curiosity nothing would be safe if she thought she could learn from it.” Wrapping her fingers around the ring protectively she looked at him wide eyed. “I only trusted you because you’re His butler, your supposed to know all that is going on in the house and telling only him.”

“I will have to ask him about it then.” Running her finger along the edge of her computer she seemed a bit shy. “its not that I am not being paid well for what I do for the company I work for but…” looking up at him she tried to think of how to put it. She lived coding, the more complicated the better but she hated that she did not get to see the finished project. If she was working here with the acts she could create things that she could see both how it looked and the reaction by the public. She had always wanted to know what the people that used her code thought of the work she did.

“OH good morning Daruis. I hope that you got good rest. I did, also got some work done.” Looking down at her computer she bit her lower lip. “maybe not as much as I should have but I was sleeping most of the day and then I was talking with Nathanial here. He and Kat were very nice.” Standing up in the middle of the bed she did a languid stretch reaching for the roof of the room. “we were talking about the amount of tech you use at your circus and if I might be able to help you with making it work better.”