Malevolence: Consume
February 12, 1983 The plan had gone all wrong. Her target had been ready, waiting. Rossa thought there was no way he'd be able to outsmart he. Had she taken it seriously, had she not taken her victory of that narcissistic dumbass for granted, she could have been right. "You've had your fun, Argento. Now let us out," she said, banging her fist on the steel-reinforced wall of a very special room in her father's mansion. In all appearances, it was a normal, lavish room, just like any other in houses of the hills that overlooked the city, except with a large, East-facing window that gave a beautiful view of the sunrise. For most, that would be all there was to it- but this room was designed to rid Lord Cremisi of his enemies, if he found it necessary. That sunrise window had been the executioner for many a vampire throughout the decades. There was no way Argento could have seen through the trap- the spoiled brat hadn't been turned yet, so he should have had nothing to fear from bring led here, yet somehow he knew. Somehow, he had trapped Rossa in her own cage, and the sun, which would be rising in two hours, wasn't her only problem. The executioner she had brought with her, her friend, her pet, even her lover at times, depending on her level of sentience at any given moment, was clawing at the same walls, seeming less and less human as each moment passed. "Em! Get control of yourself! We have to think of a way out of here." Busting through the window was no option- many a vampire had tried it and failed. The wards on that glass were too strong. There was a crackle as a speaker came on, and a voice came through, distorted slightly by the static. "Rossa, dear sister," came the voice. That fake British accent Argento put on when he was feeling smug annoyed her to no end. "You weren't trying to sic your attack dog on me, were you? What a shame." "Lady Em is not an attack dog!" Rossa cried out, but she knew she was lying, at least partially. How many problems did Em literally eat away for her? Rossa closed her crimson eyes, and took a deep breath to calm herself and admit the reality of the situation. "You've won, Argento. Let me out. I'll exile myself to Italy or some shit, spend my days partying there." "Tempting. It would be fun to stop by and rub the inheritance in your face once it's mine, but no. You spent far too long wasting time, disappointing Lord Cremisi. Even your existence as some half-blooded animation is a problem." "You can't do this! Father would -" "Your father would what? Who do you think told me what you were up to?" Rossa stopped, parting her red-painted lips. She and her father had never seen eye to eye, but it couldn't have gone this far, could it? September 9, 1970 "So, the brat did it," Rossa said, watching as a very nervous maid took a blood-soaked, grinning ten year old towards the baths. "Six years of trying and you finally found a kid fucked up enough to kill his best friend for the promise of happily ever after." Lord Cremisi glanced over towards Rossa, his grey brow raising at Rossa's defiance. Of course, it was a glamour spell that made him look all old and withered- he was well over a century old, but like the rest of his kind, didn't age. Rossa, if she tried, could see the spell itself, a glimmer that warped reality just slightly around him, but not to the man himself. In the sixty years she'd been around, she wasn't sure if she'd ever seen what her own father looked like under that spell. "Regretting being disinherited, Rossa? If you want your birthright, then take it. Kill him before I turn him. Let me see you have what it takes to make the decisions needed to keep everything I've built under control." "You can't disinherit me from something I never wanted. I don't have any interest in CEO meetings, in stock exchanges, or in being as fucking evil as you." "Hypocrite. You kill every night, just as I do. You don't even need to feed as often, you just enjoy the hunt." "A mortal a night doesn't equate to the millions of lives you ruin," she said with a sigh. "I see them as food, and maybe a little entertainment. You... you don't even really see them, do you dad? The ones that died in your factories, the ones denied life saving procedures from the insurance companies you own, the poverty you artificially create. I've seen your plans for the next decade, who you plan to have put in offices, how you want to suck the well-being of everyone else up." Lord Cremisi frowned. "Your'e a bleeding heart, Rossa. That's why I needed to look for a new heir. Why I've taken in child after child, given them this test." The two watched as young Argento was led back into the room, wearing a robe- silver, his favorite color. "Because werewolves are trash" was his giggling answer whenever asked why. There was a smile on his face from ear to ear, while the maid simply kept a solemn face, not daring to look at the child. "I don't know why Anita seems so distraught," Cremisi chuckled. "She should be pleased it wasn't her son that was chosen to be raised with Argento." The test Argento had been put through was a cruel one- Lord Cremisi had arranged one of the maids to bring her own kid, Julian, around to give the "lonely Argento" a playmate. It seemed like a great situation to be in- she'd get to spend time with her own kid and watch him enjoy the benefits of being friends with a rich kid. Julian had wanted for nothing, and soon Argento and Julian were inseparable. That was, until Lord Cremisi had offered Argento the world on a silver platter, and all he had to do to take it was kill his best friend. There was no hesitation. Hell, the brat had been laughing while he did it, so Rossa was told. Looking into that kid's eyes now, she thought maybe, just maybe, she was making a mistake by not taking her father's offer and ridding the world of whatever it was he'd become. February 12, 1983 "Two more years, sister, and the world will be mine," Argento said, laughing across the speaker as he watched on the fuzzy security feed. He had lied about Lord Cremisi tipping him off- it had been dumb luck, honestly. He had no idea his "sister's" rabid pet had been waiting for him in that room. Quite honestly, when asked to join her in there to discuss getting rid of a mutual rival, he had locked her in as a prank with every intention of letting her out... but when the doors locked, the impulsive Em had panicked, leaping from its hiding spot to claw at the walls. Cremisi wouldn't likely condone his daughter being murdered- as heartless as he seemed, he had a soft spot for his dhampir bastard child. But he had, on several occasions, warned her against keeping that monster Em around. No one was even sure what it was, other than powerful and difficult to control. It would be easy to simply say the feral beast did what feral beasts do. But if Lady Em remained in control of itself until morning and the sun killed Rossa? That would be more difficult to explain- if that were the case, if it seemed the sun would come before Em lost itself to hunger, Argento would simply release Rossa as originally planned. Pretend it was all a joke. Looking at the screen, however, showed that it would be unnecessary. Em's body was contorting, growing slightly, clothes ripping as those antlers of hers grew, fingers growing into claws several inches long. Rossa took immediate note and began backing away. With each step towards Rossa, Em became more monstrous. Argento had heard stories, but had never seen it himself; as Em lost itself to hunger, it became more monstrous. Within moments of went from its diminutive frame of five and a half feet tall, to a towering seven feet. Shredded clothes flowed around its body as if blowing in some ethereal wind, as it back Rossa against the wall, placing one clawed hand on next to her, and dragging it down, ripping the wallpaper to shreds. Rossa's pathetic begging shifted from pleas to be let out, to desperate cries for Lady Em to "remember herself". It always disgusted Argento that Rossa treated that thing as if it were people. Now she'd see where that got here. A slimy, massive tongue slipped out from a mouth full of jagged teeth to slide across Rossa's cheek, lapping up salty tears... "Please," was Rossa's final word, a desperate, stammering cry, and then, in a flash, it was over. Argento winced- even at Em's current size, he wasn't expected a single bite to take off her head, shoulder, and an entire arm. What was left of Rossa's body slid to the floor, a huge chunk missing from her torso, remaining arm twitching as the other hand fell to the ground amidst Em's chewing. Another bite, and everything from the waist up was just gone. He watched as Em took the last of Rossa, feeding it down her gullet, legs giving a few last twitches as they disappeared into the creature's body. Finally, that hand was lifted up, tossed into Em's mouth, and eaten. Argento stared at the screen in disbelief. That thing was far more powerful than he could have imagined. He had been expecting an entertaining fight, but Rossa had stood no chance. If he had heard correctly from reports of its behavior, it would sleep shortly after eating- that's when he'd have his men make their move. He wouldn't make his sister's mistake and keep that thing around. If they couldn't kill it, they'd have it moved somewhere far, far away where it would be someone else's problem. That rabid creature aside, Argento was pleased with himself- Rossa was gone for good, and his claim to the Cremisi legacy would be unchallenged.
