Kat headed towards the left side of the building and Emma followed after getting up from her seat. The cellar was kept out of reach under regular circumstances. Unlike the basement it was a small room with a single door as the entrance and a cold temperature overall, perfect for preserving blood if needed and in this case, a body. Kat took out a key and unlocked one of the doors towards the end of the hall. There was a narrow staircase heading down into a dark corridor, completely different than the rest of the building. It would have been hard to see if Emma didn't have vampiric night vision.
Kat gave Emma one last look to see if she still wanted to go along with this and then headed down the stairs. The cellar was very dimly lit with the open door as the only light source. While Emma's eyes started adjusting to the darkness she started taking in more and more of the room, and the hundreds of red roses sprawled on the ground. It started out as petals, getting denser and denser as she walked further inside the cellar. Petals turned into a red blanket, the pile of roses looking like a velvet rug forever preserved in time. Emma felt afraid to look up, not sure anymore if this was a good idea. She wouldn't know what to think about Jean's sanity after witnessing what she guessed to be in front of her.
She finally found the courage in her to look up and take in the scene. Jacob's body laid down on a bed of roses, his hands holding a bouquet of flowers on top of his chest. She was afraid to see a gruesome, bloody gash in the middle of his chest but there was no blood and his shirt was clean. She stepped closer. There was a path between the roses with less petals and some stepped over roses going up to the bed in the middle and stopping right at its side. Emma followed the path and realized Jean had probably been visiting this place. How did she never recognize Jacob's smell on her?
She stopped next to the body, staring at Jacob's expressionless face and closed eyes. He looked sort of peaceful as if lost in an eternal slumber. It was hard to understand how Jean still cared for him after everything she went through. She had been enslaved and tortured, Jacob had tried taking everything away from her. Yet when she looked down, she only saw the traces of a kin who was mourning someone they cared about. She never knew what kind of a relationship they had before killing Hysteria, a thousand years was a long time to spend together. Kat spoke from behind her, she hadn't gotten any closer to the bed.
"Jean had talked so surely about killing Jacob and taking his powers, sounded so determined to get you back and get him off his title, but you can't just shake off the loss of someone you held onto for decades. Not when they were the only person that stood by your side in your darkest moments."
Emma just stared at Jacob's body while Kat talked, standing there in thought. Then she turned back to face Kat, stuck on something she mentioned.
"What do you mean by take his powers?"
Kat wanted to make a witty remark but bit her tongue, trying not to be sarcastic in a moment like that.
"Diablerie. It is a strictly forbidden act by the council but Jean was never fully in line with them anyway, and doing that would surely push her into being more like Hysteria. I'm glad she didn't."
"But how? How would you even do that?"
"I don't exactly know, I just know that it lets you consume another kin's life energy and their powers. It comes with heavy repercussions such as loss of sanity and a death warrant on your head by the council."
"Wow..."
Emma sighed and looked down at Jacob's body again. There could be many reasons as to why she chose to leave him like this, especially when it would be so much easier to steal his powers while he's basically dead.
"I guess that would make her a near perfect copy of Hysteria."
"Kind of. It would surely be the indication of a doomed future, especially considering how open she is to being manipulated."
"This is like some unending curse..."
"Sadly."
Kat hadn't gotten any closer to the rose carpet, standing just a few steps behind.
"Well... Anything particular you wanna do here?"
Emma thought about it. What would she get by staying here for longer? She stared at Jacob's features, for some reason he felt very familiar to look at even though Emma hadn't seen him much. It was like... Like she had seem him many times in her daydreams, or visions, whatever those might be she was sure he had been a part of them at some point.
"Not really. I just wanted to see him one more time, thought it would bring some clarity."
"Well, do you feel enlightened?"
There was a few seconds of silence before Emma answered.
"Partly. I still have more questions than I have answers."
She stepped away from the bed, leaning down to take a rose petal from the ground. The color was bright crimson.
"Finding out about the answers doesn't always feel good. Especially when they complicate things further."
"That's just how it is, and how it will continue to be for the rest of your life. It's just the sad reality of the cruel world we live in."
Kat stood there for a few seconds longer before turning towards the staircase.
"Are you ready to leave?"
Emma gave Jacob's body one last look, not sure if she ever wanted to see this room again.
"Yeah... Let's go."
Kat nodded and headed up the stairs, Emma following close by. She realized that the rose petal in her hand had started withering as they went up the stairs, losing color and crumbling just as she went up the last steps and got out of the cellar. Kat saw how she was stuck looking at the petal.
"It's a room frozen in time. Hysteria had it covered in a spell centuries ago so nothing inside ages biologically, mainly to keep bodies and blood from rotting. Once you get out though all those years of being frozen in time will unfold all at once."
Emma opened her hand, letting the crumbling leaf pieces fall from her hand.
"So, Jean wanted to keep him forever frozen it time."
"It's not like his body would perish, but yeah."
So that's how the rose carpet survived for so long. It was a rather dramatic scene, but she couldn't really judge Jean about it. It was probably more complicated than she could ever guess to handle her mental state on her own.
"I'm gonna go check on Danielle."
"Sure. I'm leaving, so send me a message if anything happens."
Emma nodded,
"Will do."
She left Kat behind in the corridor and headed upstairs. She went past a few doors, including the door to her bedroom, and knocked on the door slightly ajar at the end of the hall. There was a quiet answer after a while.
"Come in."
Emma pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was rather dark since Danielle had refused to keep the lights open. Despite trying her best not to show it she didn't seem to be in a good state. Emma walked closer and sat at the edge of her bed, holding Danielle's hand in hers.
"How are you feeling?"
Danielle let out a long exhale, for once she wasn't as cheerful as she used to be.
"I'm trying to be okay."
Emma softly squeezed her hand, glancing at the window to see the full moon Danielle was watching.
"I'm sorry. I know you two were close."
There was a short silence, and when Emma looked back she could see Danielle trying to fight back tears with a strained expression.
"Danielle..."
She closed her eyes, a few tears falling down while she fought back against a choked sob. She swallowed the hard feeling in her throat and opened her eyes again.
"I'm fine."
Emma looked down, staying there quietly for a while. The silence was heavy on her heart. She didn't know what to say, what could you even say in a situation like that? She hadn't experienced loss like this before and did not know how to comfort a person who did. Danielle sniffled and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Her eyes were red and puffy, obvious that she had been crying for a while.
"Be careful, okay?"
She looked up at Emma, her expression sad.
"I don't want to lose another friend. I can't."
Emma felt speechless at that. She didn't know how to answer for a while.
"I'll be careful, I promise I'll come back to you."
Danielle closed her eyes and nodded in thought, then looked away, averting her gaze.
"I talked to Kat, asked her if she could embrace me. She said I needed to find an older vampire to do that."
"Danielle... You don't have to-"
"I do. I am useless, I can't do anything other than sit and watch people I love die, or be a burden to others."
"You're not a burden."
Emma squeezed her hand.
"Ever since I met Jean you were the one that looked after me, without you I wouldn't have the strength to push on for this long."
There was another long silence before Danielle let out a broken sob, she couldn't stop her tears and it broke Emma's heart to see her like that. She leaned in and hugged her, and Danielle hugged back tightly while crying on her shoulder. She had always been the stronger and calmer one, better at handling bad situations and staying rational in the face of crisis. But everyone had a breaking point, there was only so much you could take before crumbling down under the weight.
"I'm sorry..."
She just stood there and pat her friends back, holding her close until her hiccups calmed down and her shoulders relaxed. She looked completely drained of energy. It probably wasn't the best time to talk about anything else. Emma helped her lay back down, pushing a few strands of hair back that had stuck on her face with the tears.
"I'll do my best to make everything okay, I promise."
Danielle nodded, pulling her blanket up again and holding onto her pillow. Emma stayed there for a while longer before standing up, making sure Danielle was alright before heading back to the door. She had to make things right, and if for no one else, she would do it for her friend.
* * *
Emma stood in front of the entrance of the nightclub she had visited the night she got attacked by Inga and her goons. It had been such a long time that it felt hard to believe she was still alive and standing there in front of the same place. She didn't know if this was a good idea, but she had to give it a try either way.
She walked in through the backdoor, checking around to see if anyone was there. The inside was as crowded as ever, the bass system sending strong vibrations through the ground with the loud EDM music. She kept walking while looking around, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of anyone familiar. She felt a shiver go down her back as if she was being watched, turning around to see who it was. She spotted her in between the crowd, eyes burning through her body with hatred. A few people tried to stop her but Inga stood up and headed towards Emma's way. She was ready to stand her ground to talk but as soon as Inga was in arms' reach, she sent Emma down on the ground with a strong punch. Emma lost her balance with the force of the hit, barely catching herself as she hit the hard ground. The crowd around them quieted down and created some distance. Emma looked up, wiping the blood dripping from her nose with her thumb.
"I'm not here to-"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Inga's hands were shaking with the rage she tried to keep contained.
"Pray to gods that Alex talked me down not to kill you on the spot, so I'll give you three seconds to leave before I do."
"I saw what happened to Nehut, I was there-"
"Don't you dare speak his name!"
She stood ready to jump on Emma, her hands ready to maul skin with sharp nails.
"I just want to stop this, but I need to know who the next ancient they could target is."
Inga looked at her with an incredulous expression before laughing, her laugh somewhere between angry and mocking.
"You think I'd help a fucking council dog like you? You're making it really hard not to cave your face in, you know that?"
"A necromancer is involved in this, they won't stop until they get rid of all of the kindred."
"Sorry, but do I really look like I give a fuck?"
"Inga, please-"
Inga growled between her teeth. It was obvious that Emma's words were reaching nowhere.
"Why don't you go ask you undead babysitter? You know, the one that is just as fucking annoying as you."
She stepped forward to swing at Emma but she quickly pushed herself up, jumping back and taking a defensive stance.
"Fuck. Off. No one here will help you, and the next time you show up in anarch territory there will be blood."
Emma opened her mouth, but closed it again with the look she received. She looked at the quiet crowd watching them to see what was gonna happen next, a few unsure Anarch vampires standing up from their bar stools in case their help was needed.
"....Okay, I'm leaving."
Inga growled. Emma felt like she had to choose her steps carefully while she headed back to the exit, like any moment they could change their mind and pounce on her. The defeat felt heavy, every step that fell short giving her a worse sense of urgency. She would have to find another way, and time was running out.