Surprise

[Chad Slukov]

Chad had been on one hell of rollercoaster ride which was the past few months.

After clubbing in the local nightlife of Detroit, Chad had been seduced, bitten, and left to die by Adam, a member of the House of Chthon. Blade, the daywalker, made a massacre of the vampire club and found Chad, near death. Blade brought Chad to his hideout and injected him with a serum.This serum takes away the thirst for blood, leaving you with a clear mind.

In return for the rescue and a continuing supply of serum, Chad made a deal with Blade to spy on The House of Chthon. Once bitten by a member of Chthon, you are automatically reviewed, and then accepted or rejected by Chthon.

Over the weeks of spying on Chthon, Chad was introduced to the Nightstalkers. He developed relationships with them and became a good ally.

After awhile, Chad was suspected of being the mole within Chthon. He ran and ended up getting Silvermane, a Nightstalker, caught. Silvermane had a special place within Chad's heart, so Chad took it pretty hard. After an attempt at rescuing Silvermane failed, Chad didn't know what to do. No one knew if Silvermane was okay or not.

After lying low for some time, news that Marcus van Sciver's Project Aurora was used, and worked. With the Nightstalkers, Blade and others not having any new info, Chad needed to do something. What he had chosen to do was risky, dangerous, and maybe stupid. But maybe smart also.

Chad thought about all of this as he walked through the House of Chthon's front doors. He glanced at the receptionist as he walked past and the look on her face made him smile to himself. He could hear the receptionist calling for security as he reached the elevator. He punched in Marcus Van Sciver's floor number and watched as guards rushed towards the elevator's closing doors. Chad knew he probably looked confident as hell and kick ass. Yet inside he was trembling, fearful. He had come with no weapons because he needed Marcus to trust him.

The elevator dinged and then the doors slid open. Chad stepped forward and strutted past Sabine and her reception desk. He heard her protest but he didn't slow down one bit. The guards blocking his way looked pretty menacing but he gave them the "don't F**k with me look". He pushed open the office door and strode up to Marcus's desk. Marcus was sitting there, with a strange look on his face.

Chad placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "I want back in."

[Krista Starr]

Krista stood in front of her bedroom mirror getting ready. Everything in the House was beginning to calm every so slightly. The past three months, had been stressfull for all involved. There was so much to do and so little time to do it. So many loose ends that needed tieing. She brushed her hair back and brushed off some fuzz from her black suit.

A frew moments later she made her way out the room and into the hallway. She heard a ruckus coming down the hallway and hurried her steps. She arrived just in time to watch Chad walk through Marcus's office. She couldn't understand why he would come back. They didn't trust him, everything pointed to him as the spy, and yet here he was. What was he playing at?

"You can't be serious." She said walking in with her arms folded. She walked over to Marcus's desk and stood beside him. She couldn't look at him, she knew that he was playing both sides. Proof or no proof, their once old friendship fading slowly.

[Marcus Van Sciver]

Marcus looked up from the report he was filling out and did his best not to roll his eyes. Instead quite the opposite happened, Marcus broke out into a smile. If anything could make his night seem to be better, it had to be this. Marcus had never imagined that he would have enough guts to come back to him after what had happened earlier, but Marcus was impressed. His stupidity knew no bounds.

Leaning back in his chair, folding his hands, the smile still on his face Marcus spoke finally. “What makes you think I’d let you back in. Even if you begged and pleaded?” Marcus knew the humor shone threw in his voice and wondered what Chad’s true intentions really were. Leaning forward, he grew serious for the first time since Chad had appeared. “I know who you work for… what you’re trying to do and it won’t work. I’m impressed that you made it this far, however this is the end of the road.”

[Chad Slukov]

Chad glanced at Krista as she entered. He remembered a couple of weeks ago during Chad's escape when she shot him. She'd shot him in the leg and in the shoulder, nothing fatal, which she had done on purpose. Somewhere inside of her, he knew she still cared about him. After all, she had let him escape.

"Hello Krista.", he said, straightening himself from his hunched position. "Long time no see."

Turning to Marcus, Chad said, "Look, I've made mistakes; No one is perfect. I was only turned a couple of months ago, so can you blame me for being confused for the first couple of weeks that I was here?"

Chad looked down for second as he continued. "I wasn't even given any guidance from anyone. No one helped me get through the changes, I was on my own." Chad looked at Krista and then at Marcus. "Krista, when you were turned you had Marcus there for you. I had no one." Chad felt a pang of sadness as he realized that what he had said was true, and it was how he felt.

Why am I actually feeling sad about this? Marcus and Chthon are the enemy!, he told himself.

[Silvermane]

Silvermane cracked his eyes open, a strange cold pervading his body. Oddly enough, he felt no pain, but he felt strangely... Lightweight. He found he could move well enough, but everything was blurry and dim.

Is this what it's like when you finally die? If so, I don't like it very much.

The demon paused, feeling a very familiar presense somewhere nearby. He tried to move toward it, and seemingly ghosted over the floor without a sound. He caught sight of a human in a white lab coat, paused, then moved on. Silvermane noticed that the technician never turned towards him.

He loomed towards the door and..... went through it!

Whoa! What the heck happened to me?!

Deciding time was not on his side, Silvermane made his way quickly over to where the prescence was, his heart leaping when he saw it was Chad- in Marcus' office.

He noticed that Marcus and Krista didn't seem to see or sense him, but Silvermane did put his ghostly hand on Chad's shoulder, hoping his friend would feel the love he felt for him through his touch.

Chad, I know you haven't forgotten me. I'm right beside you, but I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like I'm a ghost or something. But don't worry, I'm still here, supporting you in whatever decisions you make. The demon sent to him telepathicly.

[Chad Slukov]

OOC: Holy shit! Way to throw in a hell of a twist Matt!

After Chad had spoken he waited for Krista or Marcus to respond. As he waited he felt a strange sensation on his shoulder. Almost as if his shoulder had touched cool, frigid air. Then he heard Silvermane's voice in his head. It took almost everything Chad had to hold back from smiling. He hadn't heard Silvermane's voice in weeks. He hadn't even known if Silvermane was dead or alive.

A whole mix of emotions hit Chad when he was told telepathically that Silvermane was right beside him. That's impossible!, he thought to himself. What the hell is going on here?!

Anger and rage toward Marcus van Sciver and the House of Chthon rose within him, but he didn't let it show on his face. What the hell have they been doing to him?, he wondered.

Chad massaged his shoulder where the coldness was seeping in, where Silvermane was touching him. He made it look as if he was massaging a muscle, when actually he was rubbing the spot where Silvermane's hand was. I'm going to find out what happened to you Silvermane, don't worry.

[Abigail Whistler]

OOC: I hope no one's forgotten about this thread . I'm in suspense here

[Silvermane]

((Naw, we haven't forgotten ))

Silvermane sighed in his ghostly form, listening to the faint echoes it made in the physical world. He also felt a faint tug, one that was pulling him back to his physical body, but he ignored it for a few more moments.

Chad, I'm not dead, but I'm being pulled back to my body. I think they have me in something similar to a stasis in a lab a floor down from where you currently are in..... room 206 I believe. Beware, there are technicians in the room, so try not to make too much ruckus. His grin was felt more than seen.

With that, he blew as hard as he could, slinging all of Marcus's papers into the air to scatter crazily on the floor.

Now that's what you call fun!Silvermane sent back to Chad.

[Chad Slukov]

Room 206, okay. Somehow I'm going to have to find out what's going on down there., he thought to himself.

Chad held back a laugh as the papers scattered everywhere. Classic Silvermane.

Chad turned his attention back to Marcus and Krista. What were they going to say in response to all of this?

[Marcus Van Sciver]

((I didn't forget... I'm just distacted....))

Marcus kept his gazed even on Chad, though he knew someone else had been in the room with them. He cast a quick glanced at Krista as the papers on his desk went flying over the room. A little astral projecting wasn't about to scare him and he shook his head. Sneaky little demon. He focused his gaze back on Chad."Let me get this straight you want back in, and that leaves me with what? A fledgling vampire who still has yet to learn the ropes?"

[Silvermane]

Silvermane felt a slight frown crease his demonic face as Marcus showed only the slightest reaction.

Hmmpf. I'll fix that even if I have to shatter every piece of glass in this room!

With that, Silvermane concentrated on the pane of glass crossing the display case Marcus kept his tomahawk, jewelry, and other things. He pressed on it with his mind as hard as he could, sending glass shards flying in all directions. He didn't stop there.

He overturned books, ripped out pages, flipped chairs, pulled large schematics of the House of Cthon, generally making a very large mess as violently as he could.

[Chad Slukov]

"Well, it's still not too late to give me guidance. I mean, even Krista needed some when she was turned.", he said thinking back to the conversation he had with Krista in the What's Roasting? cafe. She had seemed lost and confused and still very attached to her remaining human emotions.

"Marcus, it's no secret that you aren't fond of me, and that I'm not fond of you. We never had the chance to even get to know each other. The way you treat Krista-", he said struggling to find what he wanted to say, "It's made me look at you differently. I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I respect you. I want to learn from you."

A couple of months ago, if someone had told Chad that he would one day say that, he would have told them they were off their rocker. That they were crazy. How could he ever have respect for Marcus? He murdered Krista's brother, and many others. Yet here Chad was saying these things, and starting to believe them.

Chad jumped, the hair on the back of his neck raised as the sound of breaking glass came from behind him. He turned to see a display case in pieces. Books hovered in the air and were ripped to shreds in a matter of seconds. A chair was tossed through the air, flying by Chad's face. Silvermane is taking this too far., he thought to himself as he dropped to the floor and covered his head as furniture, books, glass, and artifacts hurtled around the room. He lifted his head to see if Krista was alright and the last object thrown through the air, a chair, smacked him in the head. The force of the blow sent Chad skittering across the office floor coming to a stop as his forehead slammed against Marcus's desk, the sound resonating through the room. The world in front of his eyes shook violently, slowly darkening to black as he passed out.

[Silvermane]

Silvermane glimpsed Chad getting smacked in the head with a chair and losing consciousness.

That wasn't good.

Silvermane felt an ungodly pull back to his body, his purple eyes exploding open in the dark liquid his physical body was envoloped in. His fanged mouth opened in a silent scream, bubbles erupting in crazy spirals as his wings shattered the glass, slinging it in all directions of the lab room.

The fact that he was clad only in soaking wet leather pants and combat boots never crossed his mind as he ripped himself free of the restraints and went after the single vampire technician in the room.

Fangs tore the man's neck open as the demon drank from his victim until he ashed, leaving a pile of filth in white cloth.

Silvermane knew he couldn't leave the room, so he glared at the security camera that had a direct feed to Marcus' room.

He gave Marcus the finger and paced back and forth, mouthing silent curses at the camera.

[Krista Starr]

Krista stood in silence not really knowing what she would say. She knew that Chad wasn't on their side. Yet she still let him go that day. A few months had passed since than, and that would not happen again. She was with Marcus all the way, and although Chad still meant something to her on some level, she wouldnt risk it again.

She was brought out from her thoughts when things began flying around the room. "What the hell?" She said outloud, ducking away from a flying book that nearly missed her head. Though Chad wasn't as lucky he was sideswiped by a chair.

[Chad Slukov]

Chad opened his eyes and was greeted with blinding light. He quickly closed them, realizing his concussion probably made his eyes sensitive to light. He smelled blood, alot of blood. He slowly reached up to his head and felt around. The back of his head had a huge lump and was plastered with a sticky substance. Blood. Then the wound started closing, slowly healing itself. He felt his forehead, where there was a lump and large gouge, which was also closing.

Chad opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light. He sat with his back against Marcus's desk, palms placed on his temples and said, "I have killer headache."