It was the morning after, and the sun had risen only a short while ago. Lise watched the day begin from her kitchen window. It had been a long time since she'd had the time or the inclination to do what used to be an early-morning routine. That life, if it could even be called that, was long gone. Remembering that, she drew the blinds and snuck into her bedroom to grab a blanket and a pillow.
For all intents and purposes, Stephen lay dead in her bed. The sight of his corpse, though comfortingly familiar, was nonetheless disturbing. It was Stephen, and yet it was not. Even though she should have gone to sleep hours ago, Lise could not bring herself to crawl into bed beside him. Not knowing what else to do, she carefully tucked him in. Grabbing her linen, she left him to whatever it was that vampires do during the day.
Curled up on her couch, she finally let a sigh escape. Muscles relaxed and tensions eased. She needed to regain control of herself in order to be able to summon a demon later on in the week. She set her computer alarm for 5:30 p.m., and began to meditate.
In her mind, she seperated her lives, her responsibilities and her purpose. When done, she reorganized them to fit the new variables. Barriers in this box, Viniculum in that one, Stephen's suspicions in another, position reponsibilities in the last. By moving around representations of what she thought, what she needed, what she felt, and what needed to be done, she recreated her masks.
One for the Balance to make sure her worlds never collided.
One for Stephen, to protect him from himself.
One for Marc, to protect him from her.
One for Alice, to protect her from the Vamps and the Tremere.
One for Case, to protect him from the politics.
One for Alex, to protect those under his care.
One for Johnny, to protect him from losing his mind.
One for Zeph, to work together to protect the city.
One for the Tremere, to protect him from his own Master.
By the time she was done her coffee had gone cold. Lise had never really minded the cold and for the first time in a long while, she slept like a child.
Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:24 am