Cass in Asylum - Saint City/Arcane

How long had it been? Days.. no weeks. Yes it had to be weeks since she woke up in Saints City. No idea how she had gotten there or what had happened to her. She remembered being in Mayhem, reaping and and then nothing till she woke up in a hospital. Needles in her arm, monitors all around her. She was convinced it was Oxen.

She remembered the panic that came over her, where was Destiny? How had she gotten there. She pulled the needles from her arm and got out of the bed, breathing hurt. Breathing.... why was she breathing. She put her hand on her chest and suddenly felt a heartbeat. Her arms dripping with blood as the small puncture that should of healed almost instantly failed to do so.

The nurses ran over to her and she fought against them wanting to do what they had done to her. Kicking and screaming she was dragged to the bed until they had physically restrained her and sedated her, sending her into a deep sleep. Things seemed so surreal after that. She was moved from the hospital to an ' inpatient facility '. A nice way of saying asylum.

She fought the staff convinced this was either Oxen or Plagues work meaning she was restrained with a jacket most of the day. The doctors had told her that her delusions were a symptom or severe PTSD after her mothers death. That she had witnessed her death and the cops death thereafter and gone into a deep psychosis to protect herself. At first it was easy to deny it.

But as days went by and the cocktail of medication grew it became harder and harder to hold onto any reality let alone this supposed crazy one. Curled into the corner of the padded room, she sobbed quietly. Maybe the doctors were right. She had so many people saying she was wrong that it was beginning to take an effect on her beliefs but then apart of her also wondered if her imagination could of truly conjured up her children? Her love for them still as strong even now.

She thought about her family, the Deaths, everyone she ever held dear. She thought about the enemies she had faced and what she was. Yet every test they ran said she was human, there was no trace of any scars or any signs that she had been anything other then human. She was once a woman of science and medicine. Maybe it was true, maybe she had simply lost her mind and had created a dark and wonderful world in her mind.

The thought made her cry out as she began to accept the rhetoric that had been shoved down her throat. She was crazy, none of it was real and her heart broke as she now had to accept that all the people she loved didn't exist despite her love for them and she would mourn them because they were real to her.

A bolt on the door slid open as a male nurse dressed in all white stepped in, alerted by her cries. " Blake, keep it down. You know what will happen if you keep it up. " he ordered another nurse approaching with a syringe in his hand ready to sedate her without hesitation. " Get away from me! " she barked at them just wanting to be left to grieve for the apparently imaginary family she no longer had. She was alone now.

Unfortunately her demands only angered the nurses as they approached her. " We warned you Blake. " the larger one said as he dragged her up from the floor, ensuring her restraints were tight aroudn her body. " Now hold still. " he ordered as she tried to struggle. " No, No, let me go. " she cried out the second male approaching as the tip of the needle gleamed under the fluorescent lighting..

The moment Soul delivered him the news, Karne could scarcely believe it. In fact he’d threatened his human brother half seriously though annoyed that Soul thought that Karne might trust that everything had changed so swiftly and so dramatically not so long after Karne had dragged his father down into the depths of mayhem and involuntarily gotten him killed over Karne’s need for vengeance and the return of his children’s mother, his one-time lover. This sort of rumor coming from Karne’s most trusted source of information in all of Otara, though ridiculous and unbelievable, had to be followed up, he owed it to himself to at least look into it for the possibility of having Cassandra back in his life, in his children’s life again…-It would fix everything, render all former tragedies moot in the twins eyes, they might actually find happiness again and Karne…-Well he would do anything to ensure it goes that way.

Finding the place wasn’t difficult, it was arguably the closest site that resembled something of the original manor to his Covenant. Fences double the size to a man, spiked at the top with black gates separated by pillars with stone lions sat atop of them and the words ‘ARCANE MENTAL INSTITUTION’ spread out over the entrance. He had to wonder just how many of the patients in the building actually deserved to be trapped in there, like prisoners only he doubts many of these prisoners understood the reality behind their incarceration. With the Immortals running rampant for so many years, so many people would’ve fallen prey to their violent delights, the Vampires especially. Even Karne had spent a great deal of time committing atrocities the likes that few mortals would be able to recuperate from.

Through the building he moved, quiet as a ghost and remaining unseen though he did not rely on his wraith heritage, moving of his own form in the physical and keeping to the walls, at times having to take advantage of the human’s slower reflexes for them to miss him completely. How Soul had gotten him the very cell number where this female that resembled so much of Cassandra Blake now resided, was beyond Karne; to his knowledge Soul had been cut off from the Oxen Corporation so whatever his contacts were now, Karne had to hand it to him. If he was right about this, by some miracle, Karne and his family would owe Soul Tygetsu big time.


That voice, those words. Karne’s eyes widened momentarily while his spine ran ascending with a sudden shiver, his formerly subtle demeanor disturbed as the familiarity there was impossible to deny. They were being fought with, arguing over something and Karne suddenly cared very little for exposing himself. Swiftly he moved to flood the hallway, his form a blur of black fabric as he darted, almost gliding from wall to wall using each side of the hall to drive himself closer to the cell in which he arrived upon within seconds, hands shooting out to take each of the guards by their shoulders separating them while Karne landed directly between them. In that one longing instant, the Guards turned to look to Karne in shock while the Vampire’s eyes searched Cassandra against all possibilities, for any sign that his vision was lying to himself. “What the fu-…” One of the men exclaimed before the Vampire turned, shifting upon the ball of his left foot to bring his right knee up into the guard’s stomach with so much force that he vomited as he fell to the floor. The Syringe that he was holding, Karne snatched from his grip before turning back for the other and slamming it into the neck of his partner, injecting the full dose into the throat that would see it flood the bloodstream of the human, eyes rolling back into his head before he slowly descended against the wall and landed in a slump, propped awkwardly against the single bed that Cassandra had been given as temporary housing.

For a time, he stood completely still. Unable to process who was sitting before him, how this had come to be, it was so impossible, beyond comprehension and yet there she was. Cassandra Blake, the mother to his two children once damned to the false hell, now…-Human? His brows furrowed in further confusion, he could hear a pulse, smell the fear and uncertainty on her breath, the air warm that left her body.

“How is this possible…” He murmered, slowly dropping to a crouch so that he was eye level with the, first woman who’d ever really meant anything in his life; the other naturally being his daughter though Hope never made it easy…

" No no please no more needles. " she begged the nurses who seemed indifferent to her pleas. They were stronger than her now, if she had ever really been a vampire she would of easily overpowered both men but she had to stop thinking like that. Those were the thoughts that had gotten her locked up here in the first place.

She looked away as she waited the inevitable jab into her arm. She wondered how long she would be out this time. Time had become irrelevant in this place. Her windowless room and the constant haze of drugs meant she had no idea how much time was passing. For all she knew, she had been months in the asylum. It certainly felt that way.

She never saw the black blur enter the room. Her eyes were shut tight with fear. She did however hear the guard exclaim something in shock but by the time she managed to get the courage to face him, he was already on the floor unconscious in a pool of his own vomit. Then the guard that had been restraining her had suddenly freed her as she fell to the floor almost limp.

She watched as the other nurse then collapsed onto her bed as though some force had overcome him. Her chest heaved as she her breathing escalated. Her eyes wide with fear and confusion. It wasn't until she looked directly ahead of her that she saw the figure who appeared to have caused the guards conditions. But that wasn't possible, he wasn't real.

" Karne.... " she barely managed to say, his name would of been difficult for any human to hear but he was a vampire... no he wasn't. " No no you can't be here... " she said starting to scurry back on her hands as though to get away from him. " You're not real.. you're not real! " she began to shout finding her voice as though her denial would suddenly make the figment disappear.

She kept moving back until her back was against the wall and she had nowhere left to go. " You can't be real.. you're not real. " those kept leaving her lips although they began to be directed inward toward herself. Her knees curled up and her body became small as her hands clutched at her hair.

" He's not real... he can't be real. " she muttered to herself as she started hitting at her head hoping that she could somehow hit some sense into herself, that the figure would somehow disappear and she would regain what little of her sanity she had left to cling too.

“I am real…” Karne spoke firmly, taking Cassandra by the shoulders as she tried to recoil into the wall searching for any sign of comfort that might try to protect her from the reality that was her current suffering. “I have always been real…-and I have always been waiting for you…” He lowered his gaze, his hands lifting to take hold of either side of her face as he forced her to look at him; at this point it didn’t matter what she thought was coherent or not, as long as she found the incentive to follow him. The one male that loved her beyond all betrayals, beyond all others loved and discarded. Karne didn’t care for her past relationships, only their own and in his Immortal arrogance, that still existed as much as the beat that pumped so vividly from Cassandra’s very heart. “Cassandra….” He spoke her name in earnest, wanting so much to rid her from this place yet not wanting to upset her, the woman in an oblivious and clearly mortal state, her current being confused Karne beyond anything that he’d come to experience and knowing so much, he wondered how in the world she still remembered him.

Picking up the male guard that was barely finished with his former meals regurgitated from his innards, Karne thrust him against the left wall, holding him up by his throat, his expression growing immensely more violent compared to what he’d offered Cassandra. “Her name or I will kill your family…-Your children and then your elderly. I will end all that you love if you do not tell me who she is….” He hissed through teeth that bared visible fangs, those that no one could possibly deny were from the legends themselves revealing Karne Reign as the Vampire he truly was and would never be anything else, “I will drink your blood and trace your lineage back to the very birth of your lifeline if you deceive me, mortal!!!!” He roared viciously before driving the man back against the wall with so much force that his skull caved in against the back and what little life was left subservient to him was quickly diminished.

“Fucking humans….” He hissed angrily as he dropped the lifeless corpse and soon turned to look upon Cassandra who still obviously had no idea what to make of his appearance. “Cassandra…” He tried to murmer to her though it would barely be audible to her. “It’s me…-Karne…”.

The figure approached her and he cupped her face forcing her to meet his eyes. Her blue green hues darted from left to right searching for answers in his face. She wasn't scared of him. She knew he would never hurt her, at least not physically but how was this happening, had the PTSD been triggered by the nurses again? She couldn't make sense of the situation the only thing she knew was his hands were icy cold against her flesh.

He moved toward the guard as he grasped by the throat. She gasped at his sudden violence but did nothing to stop him. She had hated the nurses and the doctors in this place. She watched as Karne behaved as she always imagined, fierce, protective, vicious to the last fiber of his body. Why would she create such a monster in her head? How could this not be real?

But as she debated with herself which reality she would ultimately choose to believe. The guard collided with the wall, the sound of the skull bone breaking with the impact, the blood that sprayed across the wall. It all seemed so real yet so many had told her it was a delusion. Was this another delusion too? Was she being sucked in again?

She stared at the nurses body until the vampire called out to her again. She looked up at him taking in his form. He didn't smell she remembered, in fact the only thing she could pick up on now the smell of blood and vomit in the room. He was still tall, still had that dangerous look in his eye, still wore the ring.

It would be clear she was struggling to make sense of what was going on. SHe rubbed her arms trying to reassure herself. Yes that was real, she knew that much. He was still standing there. " If... if you're real... then the kids.. they're real too? " she asked hesitantly. Her heart was practically in her throat as she asked.

The hardest part of all this was to try and accept that her children were now lost to her. But she was human, she knew that much t be true so how could she have grown up children? " No .. no that doesn't make sense. I'm human... " she muttered desperate to understand what had happened to her. If her so called alternative reality was true then how did she go from vampire to human, there was a missing link.

" Karne.... " she muttered still clutching at her head desperate to try and grasp to something that could pull her through this mess. " I don't know... I don't know what happened... you... you're not real. They told me.. the doctors told me... but ... you're here. " she had so many thoughts running through her mind she could take fragments from each to try and form sentences.

It was the first time in months she had a conversation with a another person who wasn't a nurse or a doctor. The fact that she believed that she was talking to a figment of her imagination didn't make matters any better as it only added to her confusion and lack of coherency.

He wiped his hands clean from the blood that he’d spilled, using his overcoat to clean them before he moved closer to Cassandra who remained on the bed, reaching out for her and placing each hand upon either shoulder of hers, his head dipping so that he could find her eyes and hold that longing gaze, “I am very much the real thing, I swear it. The Children too, Hope and Marcus…-They’re back home…” He paused, uncertain of how to even approach that subject at this point, not just with Cassandra but the children themselves, would they handle her sudden reappearance well? They’d both found some resentments in the way she’d been taken from their lives, Cassandra would need time to find her strength again before she could even attempt to elaborate on her side of the story. “You’re in an institute for the mentally unfit…-And while I’ve thought you were crazy at times, you sure as shit don’t belong here..” He slowly stood to his feet, moving to reach for her hands now and taking them into his hold, “Come with me…-I’ll take care of everything, I promise you”.

Karne held no magic words that would repair the damage already done, Cassandra was a wreck that much was obvious beyond her shaken speech, she looked very much the patient for a place such as this one and Karne had to consider just how long she’d been in here, heavily dosed with medicines that only quieted the mind when hers should be alert and able to make sense of everything she saw. Gently, he pulled her to her feet to stand in front of him, keeping her weight in his hold in case she couldn’t keep her balance, uncertain as to what affect the drugs held over her, the last dose avoided thankfully yet highly likely that her body had been slowly built up to last a couple more days before she’d see her old self again. “You need to trust me now, Cassandra…-No one will ever put their hands on you again. I am here with you…”.

Were his hands always this cold? She didn't remember him ever feeling like that. Everything about him seem less vivid somehow. Even the color of his eyes were less bright. Was it her or was it him? Were the drugs affecting her in such a way that they were distorting her senses? She didn't yet have the reason to realise that before she had been a vampire, with all of the heightened senses that came with that. Now she saw him through human eyes.

" Home? They're home.. " she repeated those words to herself as flashes of a horrid memory had haunted her. Her children or at least the people she believed were her children were dead. She still felt the pain of that moment, it had kept her up at night. She also remembered the man before her telling her they were alive but she questioned every thought in her mind. She didn't know if she trust anything she thought anymore.

But hearing that they were safe helped. She then wondered about her other child, Destiny. Was she safe? Was she even real? She didn't know anymore. Karne told her where she was. ' Mentally unfit ' she was crazy. Why else would she be there? They had been telling her months that she sick, unstable, traumatised. If her life before the vampire delusion hadn't traumatised her then her delusions certainly had.

Karne stood on his feet, he towered over her small figure. He took her hands and slowly helped her onto her feet. For a man who had just crushed a man's skull, he was being so gentle with her. His hands were icy but it felt so real. How could she imagine such a cold sensation and have it feel so real? As real as the injection points in her arms or the restraints that had tied her down to the bed in the past months.

Her legs, though weak managed to hold her weight. Karne keeping a hold of her aiding to that fact. Trust him, could she trust him? How could she trust a man, a vampire, she didn't even know she believed existed. She looked over at the bodies of the nurses. The blood by now was beginning to coagulate around their bodies. If that was real, then he had to be real or else how did they die? Unless she had done it in a crazed rage.

" I.. I.. " she had memories, at least she thought they were memories of awful things she had done to people. Maybe it had been her all along. Had she been this monster she had imagined all alone? She looked back at Karne and tried to focus her foggy mind. Her hands squeezed his slightly, that felt real so that's what her mind choose to cling too. She couldn't trust her mind so she had to try and trust her other senses and trust what felt real.

Nodding she looked back up at him. " Ok.. ok .. I trust you. " she said as she held onto his hands like her life depended on it. She wanted to leave her padded cage, she wanted to go some place familiar where the people wouldn't jab her with needles and force her to take pills every day and night. Where she didn't have to listen to the screams of the other residents that kept her up at night. She just wanted to go somewhere where she felt safe, she wanted to go home.

He was relieved, Cassandra was in a complete state and yet she was still able to pull herself together and trust Karne enough to follow him even against the obvious affect this place was having on her, like it had somehow convinced her that she was not herself, that she was mentally unstable; perhaps to an extent they all were, Karne himself probably could have used a week or two in this place back when everything was going to shit. It was a joke with no humor, one he kept to himself.
Leading her towards the entrance to her bedroom, Karne’s gaze lifted a little in momentary consideration. The humans wouldn’t just let the pair of them walk out through the front door without some sort of security measure put into place. Until now no one had been hurt therefore no alarm bells had been raised yet the two officers at their feet would eventually be noticed not to have returned so they were dealing with an eventual time limit of some sort. Holding her hand, Karne stepped out into the main hall alongside Cassandra and they both turned to begin their walk down the corridor. “This place isn’t small, we’re on the second floor and if they see us…” He paused again, noticing just how difficult it was to smell the warmth and sweat of her body, to hear her heart beating as it was, closing his eyes he had to remind himself to keep his shit together; “We need to leave quietly so here’s what you’re going to need to do for me…”. Karne turned to look to her, a small smile given in the hope of keeping her somewhat confident, “Just keep walking, no matter what happens. Keep walking; I will be with you guiding you the way…-I’ll handle everything else, you just don’t give up”.

The Elevator was easy, it wasn’t far and on the second level there were really only the odd patrol guards running the night shifts, none that crossed their path by the time they reached it and Karne pressed the button awaiting the lift to ascend to their floor. Once it opened he guided Cassandra in first only to follow afterwards ensuring no one else had noticed them and pressing the button for the first level, the ground floor. He didn’t like these things, mechanical contraptions that utilized wires thick of steel yet could break at any moment under the given weight, Karne as a Vampire much preferred to be able to scale the side of a building the way that was natural to him though with Cassandra at his side, he wasn’t sure just how much he could push the limits where her mind just gave up and she’d conform to the insanity she thought herself sick with.

Level One, the chime of the elevator bringing the attention of someone standing directly outside the doors. Karne got to him before the elevator had even opened completely, his hands around the mans head yanking it sideways aggressively and lowering himself to a crouch in order to drop the body lightly and without a sound, his right hand soon extending to point right as he told Cassandra to begin walking that way. Soon finding himself once more by her side, his hand taking hers and his words whispered to her ear, “There’s a security checkpoint ahead that blocks out exit…-When we near it, close your eyes and wait for me to return…-Nothing will happen to you, I swear it”.

Karne lead her toward the door of the room and she started to doubt herself. She had barely been out of her solitary room except for treatment. Doctors in a desperate plea to try and stop her so called delusions had attempted to treat her with ECT, electroconvulsive therapy. Everything was fuzzy for her after that. Memories weren't as clear and some were just missing. That was when she really began to question everything she thought to be true.

Her bare feet touched the cold linoleum outside. That felt real, that was real. Her hand held onto Karne's as she decided to trust what could be a complete figment of her imagination. She was crazy, maybe she should of stayed in the room. But if there was even a chance that everything she believed was true, that her children were out there. She had to take the chance. That kind of love was worth risking everything for, including what could be the last of her sanity.

Karne began instructing her on what she needed to do to get them out of there. " Walking.. ok ok ... I can do that. " she said nodding as she looked down the corridor, her eyes squinting as the fluorescent lights hurt her eyes. Her breathing increased as with every step she feared another nurse would appear. That she would be dragged back to her room and Karne would disappear, having never truly existed. She squeezed his hand to reassure herself. That felt real, he was real.

They reached the elevator easily enough and Karne encouraged her to enter. Another small room, another cage like environment. Her heart beated a little faster as she anxiously entered. She tried to remember what Karne had said about them being on the second floor. She watched as the doors shut them in and she folded her arms in front of her trying to soothe her worries.

She looked around and for the first time in months she caught sight of herself in a mirror. Shockingly she didn't recognise herself. Her hair and eye colour seemed to be the only thing that she identified with. Her skin was pale all except for the areas that were bruised along her arms and legs and the black bags under her eyes. She was thinner then she remembered, almost gaunt and her hair hung in knotted mats around her hollow cheeks. The off white hospital gown hanging off her body, hiding her petite figure as even the smallest size they had was to large for her frame.

The doors pinging snapped her out of her visual shock. She looked away watching the doors slowly open. Karne moved out of the door quickly and by the time the doors had opened completely, Karne was on the ground crouching over a body. She blinked twice not at all shocked by the sight and she wondered what was wrong with her. Anybody else would be screaming and trying to get away from the perceived threat. She was following his directions and heading right.

She kept walking like Karne had told her and as he promised he was soon beside her once again. His hand slipping into hers ensuring her safety once again. His voice telling her what they were about to approach. The idea of more security made her nervous but she trusted Karne, he may of let her down in the past but he had never lied to her, at least in that moment she couldn't remember if he ever had.

Nodding her head once again in compliance, she spoke softly afraid of alerting anyone to their presence. " I know... you'll kill them. " she said rather matter of factly with indifference. It's what Karne did, she knew that and maybe once it had bothered her. But having suffered at their hands and wanting desperately to leave she accepted it.

As they approached the exit, she wondered if this was even real. Had she conjured this scernia in an a desperte attempt to escape her reality? Squeezing his hand she started to repeat in her mind what was slowly becoming her mantra. ' This feels real, this is real. ' It was the only thing currently keeping her tethered to any sense she had left within her.

As instructed, she stopped a safe enough distance from the checkpoint. She turned her back and shut her eyes as she tried to block out the inevitable massacre that was about to occur. With her history, such a sight shouldn't of bothered her but her mind couldn't handle any more violence. She had seen enough bloodshed for one lifetime. She could wait to see more.

She spoke the words as if she was completely fine with it, like she’d accepted it as something that absolutely had to happen and she held no remorse over it. To be honest, Karne stared back at her a little shocked though she’d closed her eyes and awaited his word now; to think that she could just let go of her need to minimalize bloodshed, either the drugs were playing a very large affect over her or her time in Mayhem had truly changed her. “I will come to you when it is done, I will guide you outside and only then will you open your eyes…” He spoke very clearly, gently so not to upset her before releasing her hand and slowly stepping away, “I’ll be right back, Cassandra…”.

He tried to handle her with so much care given her fragile and unstable state of mind, a level of care that few rarely ever got from him, Marcus and Hope, he wished to treat the same way yet they refused to let him. Right now, he supposed it was a good thing Cassandra wasn’t going kicking and screaming, showing the fighting side of her first and foremost in her deluded state.

Someone noticed his approach from beyond the barred inside gate that opened into the security office, they called for backup upon their walkie, a short range communication device the smaller humans liked to pretend were toys. His form shifted within moments, fading in and out as he passed through the gate using his wraith form, right before the eyes of the mortal who suddenly looked horrified, frozen in place having seen what must have looked to be some kind of demon coming for him by the time Karne stepped into the office back within his old favorited form, taking the man by the neck and throwing the back of his skull against the wall, denting and bloodying it; the human dropping to the ground motionless and soon to be cold.
Looking over the computer and the series of controls that were monitored and mediated by this station, Karne found the particular release for the locking mechanisms on the cell and gate doors, triggering the emergency release and setting off the facilities alarms, ringing throughout the building yet also seeing all doors and gates open by electronic release. Crouching down, he took the officers key-card, a sign-in identification card just in the case that they needed it before rising back to his feet and seeing several people moving right past the office heading for Cassandra, not having yet noticed Karne at all. The three were all on foot and jogging towards what they supposed was a mental patient standing still with her eyes closed, maybe they assumed she was frightened but their nightsticks weren’t drawn and they looked intent on returning her safely to her cell. A shame for them, they’d not make it close enough for the woman to even take note of their presence.

Karne moved through them beyond a pace that men and women of the mortal would could pursue, he kicked at their legs and threw them down into the ground one after another until they all lay there cringing and growing, unable to get back up, some winded, others possibly even having broken something but it made little difference to Karne. Kneeling down between the three, he looked passed the two women to the lone man among the three of them, offering him a cold hearted and threatening eye, his words coming clearly off of his cold tongue, “Where are the rest of you…”. The Man looked back at him afeared, trembling and clearly confused as to what it was that was speaking to him, Karne even in his Vampire self, held the crimson glow to his eyes that in the right light almost looked demonic. “Be honest with me and I won’t kill you or your two friends here…” He added to ensure he wasn’t about to be wasting his time.

“T-the alarm…-All the other cell doors, they’ve opened. Y-…-You released all of them!” Karne couldn’t tell if the man was complaining, criticizing or pleading with him yet he got the picture, their friends were dealing with the other potential escapee’s too busy to cope with Karne and Cassandra who were already so close to the entrance. “Thank you…” He said before slapping the front of the mans forward with an open palm, sending him back into the floor with only enough impact to send him out cold, his eyes looking to the two women; “Don’t worry, he’ll live if you both focus on saving your friend here and forget what you’ve seen…” Naturally they wouldn’t forget and it’d be documented but Karne didn’t much care at the end of the day. Avoiding the authorities was everyday life for them anymore.

“Right…” He said as he returned to Cassandra and took her hand in his, “Time for us to leave, the guards were so nice they even opened all the doors for us…” He chuckled quietly as he began to lead her through the gated area, now unbarred and void of any active and able bodied security personnel. He was about to direct her to the front entrance before he considered something. “Wait, you can’t go out there dressed like you are…” His eyes shot back to the two women still on the floor attending to their friend, they both glanced up in shock having heard him and clearly they knew what to expect next. “Give your clothes to the woman….-Now”.

He didn't want her opening her eyes till they were outside and that was something she was grateful for. She couldn't stand to see more blood being shed because of her. It may not of made sense given she knew that Karne was about to kill but if she could block it out maybe she pretend like it never happened. The reality of the situation was beginning to dawn on her. She'd have to sift through all of her supposed memories and figure out what was true and what was false. Given the nature of some of the images in her head, she was terrified.

She glanced up at Karne as his hand left hers. She couldn't remember him ever being this way before. Considerate, gentle, words she had never associated with him before. It made her question how real he truly was. Was she imagining him this way because that's what she needed or was he real and being this way because she was mad? Either way she was glad that he wasn't acting as she expected, well not completely.

She shut her eyes and scrunched up the hospital gown in her hands as she stood motionless in the hallway. She heard part of the commotion going on in the background. The buzzing of radios and voices filled with fear but she couldn't pick up the words or what was being said. A small blessing she thought given what Karne was about to do to them. Then out nowhere the alarms began to ring out, high pitched wailing pounding against her ear drums.

Her gown was released as her hands shot up to ears, covering them trying to block some of the noise out. It did little to help but it was all she could do. She wasnt aware of the three guards that had been coming toward her, at least not until she heard their cries of pain that sounded closer then the rest. She tried to resist the urge to look over her shoulder to see what was going on. She had to remind herself that nothing good was happening back there and that she had to trust Karne. He promised nothing would happen to her and she believed him, she had to for the sake of her sanity.

She jumped as Karne reappeared beside her, his hand in hers once again. She opened her eyes slightly to look at him as he told her that the doors were opened now. She quickly closed her eyes quickly again as she had been told to wait till they were outside till she opened her eyes. She moved with Karne, finding it hard to be lead with her eyes closed. Her senses weren't what she remembered and she was relying on Karne to guide her.

That was until Karne pointed out the fact that she was still in a hospital gown and needed clothes. She opneed her eyes now to look down at the discolored fabric that hung on her body. Karne demanded the clothes from the women that were looking after an injured man. They weren't doing very well as panic was overcoming them. It was because of that panic however that they managed to get their clothes off rather quickly, handing them over to her.

She put on shirt over her hopital gown and the trousers, it felt strange wearing normal clothes again but it made her somewhat human again. Human, was she a human now? Was she a vampire? The lines were so blurred in the consciousness she didn't know anymore. Maybe that's why she was here, maybe it's because she was a vampire not because she was crazy.

But that didn't make any sense either. She buttoned up the shirt, the hospital gown still on underneath. She stared at the man who was still unconsccious on the ground. She suspected her and Karne were about to leave as the alarms were still blaring all around them.

" You should elevate his legs. " she muttered to one of the women who had given her the clothes. She wasn't even sure how she knew that. Was she a doctor? Maybe she was a doctor who had gone crazy and Karne wasn't real at all. She looked at him, doubting everything around her suddenly again. She squeezed his hand again. ' That feels real, he is real. ' " Karne ... I ... my head hurts. " she muttered wanting him to take her away from the confusion and pain of this place. He was all she had to cling to in that moment.

Karne pulled Cassandra by the arm away from the doctors while she tried to give them advice on how to best help the male, “Leave them, they don’t care about you…” He reminded her, instead leading her away and through the first of the pair of double doors that broke free from the stiff air of the asylum only to enter out into the main courtyard. Behind him, he could hear the screams and anarchy of the other patients letting loose on the building, about the same as you might expect of a prison riot only at least half of these people were clinically out of their fucking minds; he didn’t much envy the staff and he was glad that it at least seemed like Cassandra couldn’t hear a thing with her newly limited senses. How the fuck that was still the case, was something to worry about later.

“They will have called for tactical assistance by now. The Company will have sent out a recovery squad to secure the place; we need to get a move on…” Without asking her, Karne swept her off of her feet, taking Cassandra into both arms and moving with an elevated pace to shift across the courtyard, meet the wall barricading it from the rest of the city and throw them both up and over it, instead using the height of the barrier to further reach the roof of a nearby residence. The double floored building giving him a decent eye over what was now happening, he watched as the ‘authorities’ arrived as if just on time, lights of red and blue flashes distorting the black of the night and exposing the black shadows of the men and women rushing inside in order to end the chaos. “Oxen-Corp has become more than just hunters of our kind, they are the only functioning human government in Otara anymore…” He elaborated only partially, not wanting to bother Cassandra too much with the details, soon quickly deciding they’d best continue to move and taking her with him into the night.

---------------------
One Hour Later
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Cassandra had been mostly quiet throughout the travel back to the only safe place Karne could rightly think of in Saint City, he suspected she didn’t care much for not being able to move on her own terms though he hadn’t given her the chance to complain as there was too much risk to spend their time bickering over the small things now. It wasn’t until they dropped down in front of the old housing unit that she’d recognize from a very, very long time back, that he actually let go of her legs and used his weight to help her to swing down and back to her own two feet in front of the building. It wasn’t much but the apartment sized house was something she might recover some of her older self from. “I haven’t been back here since…” He began to speak though stopped, turning only to glance back to her and correcting the direction of his remark, “…-Don’t mind the mess”.

The lock on the door broke as Karne tried to turn the handle, the door itself creaking loudly as it opened and shuddered against the dried cracked frame that hadn’t seen movement in over a decade. He entered first to ensure there was no one else around living off of his safehouse before calling her in and attempting to get some lighting going. Though most of the lightbulbs were shot to shit and the wiring of the house in general was pretty half-assed, he managed well enough and pulled over the couch from the open living area for Cassandra to sit upon, propped against the back of the kitchen bench and facing the rest of the apartment.

Being pulled toward the exit Cass looked over her shoulder at the fallen man and his colleagues. She still questioned whether she was trapped in her room or not but if this was a fantasy it was certainly better then the reality she faced. So she went without defiance or comment, allowing Karne to bring through the doors outside.

Inhaling deeply she felt the first bit of fresh air in months. A breeze against her face instead of cold stale air being circulated around vents in a building. Already her mind felt clearer although she doubted whether that was the case. The term psychosomatic popped into her mind and the thought that she may actually be crazy made her doubt herself all over again. If this really was her reality how was she ever going to believe it?

" Oh! " she exclaimed at the sudden change in position. From standing on her own two feet to being carried in Karne's arms. Instinctively her arms wrapped around his neck to stop herself from falling. " Karne! " she cried as he moved toward the wall and propelled them up on to a nearby rooftop. Her face buried into his chest and her arms holding on as tight as they could given what little strength they had left. A part of her knew that if she fell she no longer had the ability to save herself anymore.

She soon learned to relax in his arms as he moved across the city. At one point she had been looking around her but she would recognise a building but remember it differently which only made her head hurt. Deciding instead to shut her eyes and and let go of Karne's neck as he travelled. If it wasn't for the cold breeze and the lack of heat coming from Karne she may of even slept. Instead she lay there, the effects of the drugs in her system making her go into a foggy haze.

It wasn't until he had suddenly stopped that her eyelids fluttered open to see what had caused him to stop. She looked over at the building and it seemed so familiar but she couldn't quite place it in her mix of memories. Karne helped her onto her feet that took a moment to find their strength. Leaning on him till she was confident in her own stance. " I know this place.. " she muttered but from where and when was a mystery.

Karne told her not to mind the mess but given where she had just came from she could live with some dirt. The question did come to mind why they weren't going to the other house, the big one or was it the one with the lake and flowers? They were all jumbled up in her mind but she knew that she hadn't lived here. Why had Karne brought her here?

He walked ahead seemingly checking the apartment before wanting her to enter. The same cool air whipped around her arms, causing goosebumps to rise from her skin. She was freezing. It seemed like such an odd sensation to her but why she didn't know. Maybe it was because the asylum was temperature controlled but it was like she was feeling this sensation for the time.

Hearing her name she walked in cautiously looking around her and rubbing her arms trying to get warm. The apartment offered her no comfort in that respect. She recognised almost everything that see saw but still the significance was lost on her. To think on it anymore wasn't doing anything for her growing headache.


Sitting on the couch that Karne had pulled over for her, her knees covered her chest and her arms folded across the top as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering with the cold. She hoped in her huddled position she could warm herself. Waiting a moment she looked over at Karne, so many questions in her head unable to break through her drug saturated mind but she was trying.

" Why are we here, why aren't we home Karne? " she asked innocently enough. She wasn't angry or annoyed simply curious. She knew enough to know that this wasn't home, at least it didn't feel like home. " Did I live here? " she asked now doubting her mind again. She had been found in Saint City so maybe she had lived here and wondered off. If that was the case the crazy theory seemed to be coming back into play as there was no sign of any of children here so maybe she had imagined them.

Her hands clutched at her head again as she tried to make sense of it all but failed. There was just to much and she didn't have the strength or the capability to unravel the mess of memories in her mind. " I .. I .. don't know... " she muttered speaking aloud although trying to answer a million internal questions. Tears ran down her face as confusion and pain overwhelmed her. Would the nurses come back and sedate here again? Would she need more treatment? " Please.. I don't want it.. no more medicine please... " she cried, head burrowing into her knees, the only place she could hide from the invisible monsters that had haunted her for months now.

Karne had to actually think about where the blankets were stored in the house, the only time he’d ever used them was to save Cass her dignity the last time they shared the apartment and a bed together. This time however, when he did eventually find some, they were to be used for her comfort and hers alone. Returning to her, he wrapped her up in them while she huddled against herself trying to keep as much of the warmth in as possible. “Stop talking…” He muttered quietly to her, ensuring the blankets were tucked well into her sides before letting her fall back some more into the comfort of the sofa’s back support, “Your mind is in shock, you need to calm down otherwise you’re going to overdo it…” Karne could hear her heart beat loud and clear, it was a concern for several reasons though the fact that she had one at all was mind blowing and left a lot to be questioned.

“You and I haven’t shared the same home in a long time, Cassandra…-Though we did spend some time here together before you and Luca…” He waved a hand as if to finish the sentence through the gesture alone. “It’s the closest safe house that still belongs to the Covenant, the only one of mine that I know to be secure in Saint City. You need to get some sleep, recover physically and then we will talk…-You're protected here, I'm here. Close your eyes...-I'll be here when you wake”, it wasn’t a request, Karne shifted away from her to begin to stoke the nearby fireplace hoping that he might be able to generate some heat in the building. He himself needed to wrap his head around what was going on, how she could be back here of all places and how had Plague not come for her yet. The Elder covenant wasn’t responsible or even able to pull anything so miraculous off such as this without confronting Plague and Xaphan intent on killing them, obviously Karne would have been there if that were the case which meant it had to be the Coven of Rosaline’s or whatever her damn name was. He wasn’t sure if he should be appreciative or pissed off, knowing so little of what to expect now to be coming around the corner, this would change everything for his family. For his Children.

Pulling the blanket around herself for warmth as Karne wrapped her up in it. Being cocooned in the fabric was oddly comforting and the chattering of her teeth began to ease. The goosebumps along her skin lessening as the warmth began to slowly heat her core. " Stop talking " he said to her and she looked up to him somewhat shocked by what he said but it was enough to make her stop crying at least.

Calm down, she needed to calm down. Karne was right but given her fragile state of mind, it was easier said then done. The only time she could of been considered calm was when she was sedated. Her days were far more chaotic as she tried to make sense of the mayhem in her mind that had been created at their hands. But she had just been broken out of an institution by a vampire at the cost of lives. It wasn't an everyday situation.

" Luca? " the name triggered another onslaught of memories. A lake, a house, a wedding dress. Was she married? She glanced down at her hand and saw no evidence of any rings. Maybe the asylum had taken it. But if she had a husband where had he been the last few months? Surely the man she had married would've visited her when she needed him most. But the memories went from bright and loving to dark very quickly.

The image of a man with long blonde hair shackled to walls in a dark room, bloodied and weak played in her mind. She was there, she was giving him blood and practically torturing him. Had she done that or was this another delusion. Which was the truth? Could they both be true? She couldn't understand any of it. Why would she hurt the man that she had loved? None of it was making any sense and it was only making her head hurt.

The coven, the Death coven. More images of faces flashed through her mind and it was nearly all too much for her to handle. There were too many gaps in her memories and the ones she still had were out of order. " Sleep... sleep would be good. " she muttered hoping that if she slept she would be granted some respite from the chaos that she was trapped in. There were so many memories and faces circulating in her mind that the only way she could escape was to be unconscious.

Karne moved to warm the apartment and she moved on the couch to lay down, crossing her arm under her head to use as a pillow. Strangely this felt familiar like she had slept on the couches a lot before. The face of a man crossed her mind, Knigh. He was important to her, he was family but again she wondered where he was and where were all the kids.

It was all too much as she she quickly began to drift off. The sleeping pill she would of had to have taken with her evening meal made it easy for her to ease into slumber. Her body curled in the fetal position, wrapped in the blanket, her heart beat began to slow as memories were replaced by darkness. Her last thought before she succumb to unconsciousness was that she hoped she wouldn't have nightmares tonight. She couldn't spend another screaming.

Finally she slept and for the first time of the night, Cassandra looked at peace with the world around her. It’d be a decent few hours before she awoke again unless the nightmares got to her before Karne could return but for the time being, he simply sat back against the wall near to the fireplace offering the apartment a warm comforting glow and the light bouncing off of her skin made her look even more beautiful than he’d remembered.

He had no idea how he would explain any of this to the others, especially the children. Knigh had gone off and gotten himself more than likely killed trying to help them all in the absence of Cassandra’s presence, perhaps even trying to help Cassandra herself whom Karne had done as best as he could and been thrown out like some stray dog unable to beat Plague down at his own game. After everything that Marcus and Hope had been put through, the violence and loss they’d seen in their lives and the resentments they’d found for both of their parents, it was difficult to know whether this would be a welcome reception or not. Initially they’ll be shell shocked, he guessed, watching Cassandra while thinking on it all. Marcus would probably collapse on himself for all the way he’s been doing lately and Hope, she might just hug the woman while trying to yell at her at the same time, stubborn thing she was.

Then there was this whole human condition, it was undeniable. Being so close to Cassandra made it difficult not to feel that thirst for blood again, she had a pulse that tormented the feral side of him yet he had the good sense to shut it out as best as possible. Putting aside the fact that the others might struggle to come to grips with it, Karne couldn’t know if this was a positive or a negative. The fact was that her being Human no longer made her a target of Ox-Corp, the Company would only pursue her if she continued to publicly consort with Immortals, living out in the Blackwood and the Company somehow finding out about it would further endanger her but there were other options here; Soul and Clara lived in the heart of Otara where the Company was based out of, Arcane Sanctum. Cassandra of course would hate the idea if she had her own old mind back to be able to argue the prospect; being away from the children, even though able to visit back and forth, Karne just couldn’t see her accepting it as a reality.

Then there was Luca…-With Cassandra out of the picture, Karne had come to hold a small amount of respect for the man that had fathered his children, looked after them when they needed a male role-model in their lives more than ever. The two had always been at odds with each other since he got with Cassandra while Karne was off doing his own thing, only to return and hear about it. At one point Karne even relished in the thought of cutting the man open and yet now he hung half conscious and drained of nearly all of his blood, starving in the basement of the Blackwood Manor. Cassandra’s return now sparking two scenario’s or rather larger questions in mind. Would she seek to help him and in doing so, alert the children to his being there; there was no way she could move anywhere on those grounds without the kids being able to track her in her human state. The second scenario or question and a rather selfish one to think upon, Karne ignored the guilt but had to wonder where Cassandra and Luca stood as a pair. Would his return to normality also reawaken their old relationship…

It was the last of his thoughts before he decided to leave her for the time, moving to leave the apartment with little a sound to seek out some fresh clothes for her and maybe gather some human supplies, food, medical things just in case something went bad or the drugs fucked with her somehow. He’d be gone for an hour and hopefully she’d still be asleep when he returned.

Cass's sleep was haunted by strange nightmares that she couldn't comprehend. Whether they were figments of her imagination or fragments of her imagination she had no way of knowing in her state. She hoped deeply that the images of bloodied bodies and death were warped creations of her fractured minds. If they were real then she wasn't sure how she was going to live with herself after everything she had done.

Sweating and moaning in her sleep, she finally jumped up from her restless slumber. At first she didnt know where she was. She wasn't in the asylum anymore. " Karne? " she called out as she looked around wondering where he had gone too. She slowly sat up, the blanket still around her as she placed her feet on the ground below her.

The fire was still burning and the chill she had felt before was gone. The room seemed warmer and brighter now compared to earlier. Had she slept all night? She wasn't sure and she didn't dare go near the windows. She wasn't sure what she was going to see out there. A street or a fiery hell. For now she would rather live in ignorant bliss then face what could be a difficult reality and a bitter pill for her to swallow.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence and realising that Karne wasn't there, she wondered if he was ever there to begin with. Had she cracked again? Was he a creation of her mind that helped her to escape the asylum? Had she been the real culprit all along? She sighed not knowing what to believe anymore. Everything was still so muddled in her mind that part of her even wondered if she had even truly left the asylum.

Putting the blanket to one side on the sofa she looked down at the clothes she had taken last night. The hospital gown underneath were irritating her skin and she just wanted to take off all traces of that horrid place. She rose from the couch slowly and headed to where she thought the bathroom was. How she knew that she didn't know. She was still struggling to remember where she knew this place from, but she knew she knew it from somewhere.

Stepping in, her feet could feel the coldness of the tile beneath her. The bathroom looked like it hadn't been used in years but that didn't really seem to matter. Her delicate hands reached over the bath and turned on one of the taps. Water began to flow from the shower head above her. She stepped back and removed the shirt exposing the hospital gown underneath. She stepped out of the trousers leaving them on the floor. Pulling on the knot behind her neck she managed to undo it and then quickly removed, exposing herself to the room.

Naked, she stepped into the bath and placed her hand under the water to test the temperature. It was so warm and she slowly stepped forward, the water running over her head, down her back and over the curves of her body. Her matted hair smoothing out and clinging to her skin as the water fell to her feet, dirtied and blackened as it ran into the drain. Silently she stood under the water, trying to think about anything but her memories.

Alone, in the apartment she actually began to miss having someone there. She had been alone so much in the asylum that suddenly having Karne there made her crave the company of others now. She didn't want to be alone again and now she was in a confined space she began to feel somewhat claustrophobic. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to calm herself down, easier said then done given that she had been dependant on drugs the past few months to do just that.

Feeling weak, she decided to sit in the bath and allow the water to rain over her as her body curled around her knees. Her forehead resting on her knee caps as her reddening hair covered her face, hiding her from the world. She would try to grant herself just a few minutes of peace before Karne returned, that is, if he returned. She still couldn't decide whether or not he was a figment of her imagination.

It wouldn’t be long until Karne would eventually return, the sun was slowly beginning to rise though it hadn’t hastened his path as his mother’s blood gave him the ability of neglecting the age old Vampires weakness for UV light; Where his father had been forced to injest a wholly different kind of power to walk among the daylight hours, Karne had been gifted this ability when he’d been stabbed with a needle by Arashi to complete the circle in their little forsaken family. Entering the residence, he pushed his way through the front door and moved to place the bags of stolen goods upon the kitchen counter, food and clothes of various sizes not entirely sure what would best fit Cassandra though he did what he could to provide for her given her state, he doubted she’d complain any.

Moving to approach the living area, he frowned as he found the couch bare and the blanket upon the floor. Slowly he turned to look down the hall wondering and partially fearing what she might do in her fragile outset. “Cassandra?” He called as he began to walk across the floorboards, creaking beneath the carpet as he headed towards the bedrooms, stopping at the open bathroom door at the sudden moisture in the air and turning to see her soaking in the bath, perhaps more so hiding from the world. At first, his instincts told him to walk away and leave her be, both privacy and peace of mind the initial concern though at this point in their lives where he’d seen all that she had to give, it occurred to him that if he was able to control his desire for her, he might be best to keep her assured that he was still there for her. She still looked scared, anxious and as trapped as she’d been in the penitentiary for the mentally ill. If the Humans were lucky, Karne wouldn’t one day return to burn the building down for what they’d done to her.

At first he did walk away though only to collect the things that he’d acquired from Saints Stand before returning with the two bags, one with the groceries of which he imagined she was feeling starved at this point. Slowly though not silently, he entered the bathroom and moved to seat himself beside the bath, upon the floor with the small cabinet and the hand basin at his back using it as a support to lean against while he looked to her, focusing on her gaze as it seemed lost and distant of her former self. “I brought you a few things….-Clothes and food” He spoke quietly, reaching out with his right hand to stroke her hair out from in front of her face, pushing it back behind one of her ears so that he might look upon her and see less of the wreck that she was.

“You’re not like you used to be” He continued to elaborate, speaking for as much as he could assume given all they’d experienced over the night, “You’re mortal, human. Your body won’t be used to the weakness, the lack of strength and your mind might be suffering for it but it will pass…-The main thing is that you need to eat solid food and drink to keep your body from starving itself. Blood won’t do it anymore, in fact if anything, it will likely make you feel much worse…”. He felt she needed to hear these things though whether Cassandra was able to listen to what he was telling her, he couldn’t really know unless she showed him some sign of acknowledgement.

Soon turning away to shift his attention to the bags on the floor between his feet, he rummaged through the second one pulling out an apple, a store-bought (though stolen in his case) sandwich and a bottle of water. There was of course more than that but he didn’t want to overdo it, least she eat so fast that she choke or…-Simply lose her shit at all the things being handed to her, the revelation of her being alive would be one of the biggest shocks to her system thus far.

Despite having called her name, Cass was completely oblivious to Karne's return until he entered the bathroom where the the bath had slowly begun to fill with water. She had spent her time in the warm water trying to do anything but think. Trying to get out of her own head for a short time rather then try and deal with the mess in her head. But no matter how hard she tried images would flash through her head, many unwanted, some not as she tried to figure out when she had been here before.

Karne tucked some of her hair behind her ear and the sensation felt so familiar only it wasn't his face she saw doing it. It was anothers which only added to the confusion of it all. Her eyes glistened as they reflected the clarity of the water that surrounded her. She was glad he was back especially when she didn't know where he had gone. It seemed that he had gone to the store and picked up some things, all of which she was grateful for even if she couldn't say it.

' Human ' that word seemed so strange to her. She knew she was human, yet she also knew she was or at least used to be a vampire. She could remember that feeling, the strength, the senses.  It felt nothing like this, in fact this almost felt foreign to her like she was inhabiting someone else's body and two peoples memories were trying to blend into one. It was the best analogy she could think of to describe what was happening within her.

Karne began to pull out food from the bag he brought in. Her stomach reacted to the sight of it, gurgling and cramping in pain as her body craved substanance. Blinking, she reached out and took the apple from him, drops of water running down her hand onto the fruit. She held it for a moment and then took a bite from it, the crunch echoing around the room.

She chewed for a moment before swallowing. Finding swallowing something solid oddly against her nature yet her body longed for it. It was as though she had two conflicting natures and she didn't know which one to trust. It seemed the only thing or person she could trust was Karne. Having taken a few more small bites from the apple she looked to Karne as she tried to figure this whole mess out.

" How? How did this happen? " she asked  still unable to remember how she ended up in the hospital in the first place. If she was a vampire before and she was human now then something had to have happened to make her like this. She assumed that what that was happened during her memory lapse. Maybe Karne could help her fill in some blanks and make sense of the memories in her head.

Karne had been putting it off for as long as possible though for Cassandra to find her memories, it meant recalling both the good and the bad, sadly the bad seemed to outweigh everything else. Leaving the bags of clothes and food to be placed upon the hand basin behind and above him, Karne soon turned to look back to her wondering where exactly to start with it all. “Well…-For the longest time we can recall, you were dead…” He guessed it was best to start off there, while everything else with the exclusion of Plague might not seem so bad. “We had the Children when you were taken from us but you and I weren’t together at that point. I was…-Well, you and I had been over for a while and you’d found Luca who…-Was good for Hope and Marcus…” It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to say though neither was it the time to put a dampener on more than he needed to. “Oxen Corp, or The Company as Soul and I refer to it, they attacked you all at your place near Arcane, the Rose lodge. Horribly colorful house, you loved it…” He smirked faintly speaking the final words before frowning to himself soon after and searching for his cigarettes, intent on lighting one up given he was having to recite everything all over again. “They infiltrated and attacked everyone on your wedding day to Luca. I was too late to save you but the Children were taken into the Black Wood where the Death Manor stands today, back then…-That was the one move from The Company that truly kick-started this war of Mortality”.

How were he to explain the rest, Karne had never gotten along with Clara and only very recently in the last month had they found civil ground enough to talk on the means of Luca’s continued survival. “Somewhere…-Some sort of bargain was struck between you and another known as Plague, a Demon similar to Jazmina though with larger aspirations as he and another came to distort and merger a new level of Hell that they called Mayhem…” He turned to glance to Cassandra as if to reminder her with a gentle glare, “I always warned you about dealing with Demons…”.

“The Short story of it all was that you were allowed to come and go between worlds as long as you served Plague, you did this believing the children would be alive, safe. You were wrong but that’s to be expected when dealing with their kind, they never keep their word true to heart. While the Company continued to exterminate Immortals everywhere they could find them, the Covenant, our family turned our attentions on Plague and trying to find a way of bringing you back. We inevitably failed and others were hurt and killed in the process…” He continued to watch her, hoping that the truth of everything wasn’t about to break her and reaching out across the bath, he found her hand and took it into his hoping further that it might offer her some comfort while he continued; “Our efforts to bring you back only pissed Plague off further. He’s a malevolent beast, relishes on other people’s suffering and never intended on letting you go. The more that we suffered trying to bring you back, the more eager to extort your love for your children he became. Going so far to attack the twins, Marcus and Hope on two occasions that I’m aware of…”

“What I’m struggling to understand myself right now is exactly what you’re asking me, how are you here now and a Human of all things…” He shook his head, taking a long drag from his cigarette before looking to the roof thoughtfully, “I’ve killed and gone well beyond my means trying to bring you back to this world, to our children’s lives and after all the bloodshed, all the guilt and the pain, Soul just came to me claiming someone of your likeness had been taken into Asylum, extradited through The company…-What’s more amazing is that there’s been no sign of Plague and I had lost hope of seeing you again outside of his reach…”.

The water surrounding Cass was warm and steaming and yet with word Karne said she felt her blood running colder. It was almost to much for her to bear as she listened to him to recall the last few years of her life. Everything that had haunted her dreams for the last few months was true. She had done all those terrible things to those poor people. She was the monster in her dreams not anyone else.

Plague, Mayhem, demons. Karne's words were like clues to a jigsaw puzzle that she was trying to fit back together in her mind. Before the pieces were scattered with no clear image but the more he spoke the more they cleared and she could put them into some order that made sense. As terrifying as that image was, she knew if she was going to make sense of any of this she had to face it.

She had been the cause of so much suffering and pain. Even to those she claimed to love and want to protect, she had been the cause of their deaths, their anguish. What kind of mother was she? What kind of person was she to do all of that and still live with herself? None of it made any sense even as Karne tried to put the picture in her mind together.

The twins death, that image had haunted her the most. Their bodies side by side lifeless. The image even now made a tear run down her cheek. She tried to remember shutting her eyes as she remembered the pain she went through after their deaths. She remembered Karne in that hellish place. A place she had hoped was one of her own imagining. He was in pain, he wasn't like he was now. He tried to tell her that the twins were ok and then there was a fight. Not with Karne, no it was someone else.

She looked over at Karne as she knew that he had no idea what had happened to his father. She didn't want to tell him. She couldn't even be certain that her memories were correct. She couldn't stand to cause another person she loved anymore pain. She had done enough of that and so looked away from him again afraid she might blurt it out if she continued to look at him.

Unfortunately, Karne couldn't answer the one question she did have. How did she end up like this and in the asylum? That much was still a blank. One moment she was after someone, was she hunting? It was all still blurry and then the next thing she knew she was in Saints City with a heartbeat. How it was possible or why Plague was leaving her alone she didn't know she was only glad he was so she could try to make sense of all this without him manipulating her again.

" You should of left me there, in the asylum. I shouldn't... I shouldn't be here. " she muttered as the weight of the guilt of her actions weighed heavily on her. Her family would of been better off if she had never come back. If only she had stayed dead then they would of all been safe. But even that thought caused her pain as she thought about her other child Destiny. She was Plague's daughter but she loved her as much as she loved the twins. To think that was to wish Destiny to not exist and she did not wish that either. It seemed no matter what she did, someone always got hurt.

" They can't know Karne.. the children.. they can't. I don't want them to know... " she said wanting to protect them at all costs from the person who caused them the most pain in their lives. It broke her heart every moment she was apart from them but how could re-enter their lives knowing that she was the biggest threat posed to them. The best thing she could do for them now was to remain dead and gone in their minds.

Burying her head into her knees again not even the water could help keep her warm now. Her head ached from the efforts of trying to put the pieces back together. She didn't want anymore to the apple Karne had given her and the apple splashed into the water and bobbed around her, browning slowly. She almost wished for the delusional fog to come back rather than deal with the reality that had driven her mad for months.

Cassandra seemed to react to the retelling with about an ‘as expected’ response, withdrawing further into herself and letting her guilt take shape; Karne Reign knew the place well, the point where acceptance for your actions are unavoidable and you have to realize how much damage has been done because of yourself, your own hands. With his head against the basin cupboard, he took another long drag from his cigarette, drawing it all into his deadened lungs only to be brought back up and expelled out through his nostrils while he considered how best to counsel her in the moment; this was after all, a place he had been living for the past several years.

“Perhaps the drugs would have made it easier for you to go on…” He quietly agreed, head turning against the basin to look to Cassandra who seemed to not want to see anything else anymore, “But you’ve never been one to run from your problems…” He chuckled softly, glancing back to the wall ahead of him and adding in a more genuine and serious tone, “No, that was my doing…”.

The Chaos surrounding Jazmina, his father and Cassandra herself; none of that could have been avoided by Karne’s intervention, he hadn’t been around at that point so it was fair to say that much of what was happening now could not have been stopped but that did not mean to say that had he not left Cassandra and the Children, that his presence in their lives would not have helped things get to where they were today.

“This is the life we’re given, Cass…” He continued to speak following a brief pause, the words that soon came weren’t so much thought of as they were felt to be the truth in his own existence, “We do not choose it, it chooses us and we have to rise to meet it. Mistakes are made and people die, sometimes because of you, that’s all just part of it…” It seemed bleak, a dark way to put a lack of value on their world; it was the bitter honest truth. “Neither you nor myself asked to be where we are today, I did not choose to be born into my father’s Covenant, sent down this path of reeling from every sin of his only to have to be the accountable one to try and recover and pull the family away from his failings; nor did you choose to be turned, it was your mother that cut your throat and my father that kept you from the next world. Not one of us were meant to be small time players in this world of power hungry giants and yet here we are; and what’s more is that we have two children together who are living back at the Death Manor, just barely safe from all the vicious merciless bullshit out there…”.

Hope and Marcus were it, the driving point that had brought about the change in Karne. Perhaps it had come far too late and at a time where he was the only one left alive to be able to watch over them but none the less that change had come and they’d given him something to feel he had to protect, some sort of purpose that wasn’t just living and fighting for himself and his own means. “Hope needs her mother…” Karne turned to smirk warily to Cassandra, “Trust me, she fucking hates me…-Accused me of trying to get back into your good books now that Luca’s gone…-The little bitch has no idea. We don’t choose our family Cassandra…” The final words were more of a point to put across to her, “And they’re going to need to accept that one day just as you’re going to need to come to terms with what you’ve done. Just like I’ve had to come to terms with what I’ve done…”.

Running away, no she had never run away. Not from her mother or anything else that she could remember. Not the demons or the vampires or any of the other monsters in her head. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she should of run away like Karne had. If that was the case maybe she wouldn't be here. She could of been safe, the children they wouldn't have to suffer like they did because of her. It was all because of her, because she had tried to do the right thing. But what had the right thing ever done but cause pain and suffering to the ones she loved.

Karne kept talking, a lot was lost on her but what she did hear was true there was no arguing that. She never asked for this, the children never asked to be born. They were a happy accident and probably the best thing she had ever done in this world. They made all the horrible things she had done worth it. Protecting them, raising them, bringing them into the world. They were enough for her. If the only good thing she did was them then that was enough for her. But as she thought of them, she longed to see them again and that was the one thing she couldn't do. To put herself back in their lives was selfish and would only cause them more pain.

' Hope needs her mother ' the words rang in her ears as she thought of her now middle child. One of a pair of precious twins. She had been a rock to her siblings the last few years, being there for Marcus and Destiny when she couldn't. But Hope had her own share of burdens and she kept her feelings inside. Turning her head to look up at Karne she glared. " Don't call her that. " she said defensively. She wouldn't let anyone talk about her babies that way not even their father.

She curled back into herself having satisfied her maternal instincts and the need to defend her baby and she thought about how she was going to try and come to terms with what she'd done. Honestly, she thought she had maybe before. She wasn't sure. In her memories she didn't seem to be conflicted, it seemed almost easy like she had justified it or accepted it. But now, now it all seemed too much to accept and she wasn't sure she could ever get over it and face her children again. She didn't think she could ever bare the look on their faces if they saw her again.

The apple browning around her she began to feel the chill of the water around her. She couldn't sit there in that small confined bathroom anymore. The walls were starting to close in on her and she wasn't sure how much more she could take from Karne. She knew he meant well but she felt like she was suffocating with all the memories floating around in her head that she was trying to make sense of. Thinking about going back to the children was just to much to deal with. " They can't know Karne.. not yet... please. " her eyes were softened now. The anger from before now forgotten about as she desperately wanted to keep her presence known from her children. If for their sakes if not her own.

Pushing the apple away from her she decided that she had to get out of that bathroom. " Is there a towel? " she asked looking around and then looking back down again. All of this seemed so tedious and pointless. But part of her wanted to get the asylum grim off of her and knew this was necessary now. She knew what Karne had been saying was true, she needed food, water and sleep. None of which she had much of lately so that was what she had to try to focus on right now. The basics. Food, water and sleep. The rest could come later when she was stronger and more able to cope with the mess she had made of her life.

Cassandra had been through too much too quickly, Karne had told her of all that he knew and now she had to manage her way through all of the guilty, all of the memories and acknowledgement of the past that seemed to take to her about as kindly as a cinderblock takes to any man’s face, the look of defeat in her was rife and clear. Reaching for a towel, he slowly pushed himself off of the bathroom floor and handed it to her, he wouldn’t stay, there was a line and as little right now as he cared about manners and niceties when it came to reuniting with her, it was only right that he leave now, to let her collect herself and breath a moment in peace; alone. “They will only learn of all of this when you’re ready and you’ll be there with me when we eventually explain that to them but not until you can stand on your own again…” He responded quietly, taking once last glance to catch her gaze before turning for the door and stepping off into the hallway. He didn’t go far though far enough to give her the space she needed while he was still in range to hear and more or less monitor her from afar.

The living area and open kitchen had warmed now, Karne had managed to get the fireplace stoked and lit for Cassandra’s comfort. For the first time in years the place housed real food and after a while he’d managed to tidy it up since his last isolated binge. Once upon a time where Cassandra was her old self and Luca was in the picture, this place had offered a number of nights blurred by alcohol and guilt, feeling sorry for himself had come so easy, finding peace in the bottom of the bottle had been an swift decision and still to this day he found it difficult not to turn to the drink when things were looking grim. It might not kill him, his body technically already of the dead though it addled the mind and offered an arguable clarity and the confidence to see only one way, his way. They weren’t simpler times but Karne was rather a man of simple desires, everything that he wanted with little compromise for anyone else. Cassandra had been the same when he first met her, not in her personality but that he wanted her so much yet would not go the distance to cater for the needs of her or anyone else, would not change his ways, too stubborn in believing what he felt was always the right decision to make, always ready to fight and kill those that opposed his way. Leaving her made the future look easier, though a deception of his self, it had been much kinder a thought to just walk away from everything, not take responsibility and not try to fix the damages he’d already done; not try to be the parent that he didn’t know how to be, that his father never showed him that he could be.

Existing as he was now, in the present, that was the real challenge. Being the person that he had come to be, changed in his mindset, trying to do right by the children finally after years; the last two had been anything but a breeze and Hope and Marcus had made it difficult every step of the way yet Karne had forced himself to own that, to recognize that everything that was wrong with their relationship was his fault. It had almost broken him, he’d nearly given up and walked away again several times, nearly had so much of enough that he was tempted to just throw it all away but in coming to know the twins, he’d grown to love them…-Only learning to hate himself even more. It was not difficult to know where Cassandra’s mind was right now, the guilt, the self-loathing and the recovery that just seemed so impossible. Karne had been there, he was still there and her return was the first positive thing that he’d seen truly bring about a change in his situation, in years. He had longed for her to be back with the children, not just because he still loved her despite all the shit that surrounded them and their history but because the twins truly needed her, they needed her more than they did him and they loved her more than they did him. In the end, they’d come around…-Karne just hoped Cassandra still had it in her to come back from all of this.

Reassured that her children wouldn't know of her existence, it offered her little in the way of comfort. She wasn't doing it for herself, far from it. In the asylum the thoughts of her children were the only thing that stopped her from descending into complete insanity. She wanted nothing more than to hold all three of them in her arms again. But she couldn't do that to them. She had done nothing but bring them pain and suffering in her selfish desire to love them. No, if she really loved them she would leave them alone. They were stronger without her now, she would prove a liability in her state.

Karne left the room and she met his eyes but there was no smile, no joy just a blank stare across a hollow face. She had so much emotion that she couldn't possible process it all now. Not in her state, not with her mind trying to still  separate fact from fiction. Trying to fill in the blanks that she had lost through a mixture of drugs and electroshock therapy. Looking down into the cloudy water, the apple core had now completely browned as it began to sink to the bottom. The apple had done little to satisfy her appetite that was now growing since she had eaten. Taking the towel, she rose from the water reaching over and using the sink for support. A puddle formed at her feet as she wrapped the towel around her body. A body that felt strange and unfamiliar to her yet looked to be her own. Using her hand she wiped the condensation off of the glass. Through the wet smeared reflection she stared at herself. Her face looked gaunt, large black bags were hanging under her eyes, her hair looked thinner yet her face remained young. Age hadn't caught up with her despite now being human. It was as though the clock simply restarted from where it had stopped despite being thirty years of age now, she still looked eighteen. But her soul, well, she would never know just how much all of this had aged her inside.

Looking from her tired face, she pulled her hair over to one side and took the bag that Karne had left her. She put the food to one side and found the clothes in the bottom. Reaching in for what looked to be a pair of jeans, the bag tipped over and the clothes split from the bag onto the ground. Clumsiness, was she clumsy now? She didn't even know herself anymore. At this point in her life she had been a vampire as long if not longer then she'd been a human and she'd try to block all those human years. She had forgotten what it was like to be mortal, it was easier that way. She couldn't of done what she had too otherwise. Images of that awful place threatened to creep back into her consciousness but she tried to force it back. She couldn't cope with that place now, the memories, the emotions. It was overwhelming and she knew if she gave in she would end up back where Karne had found her.

Staring back at the heap of clothes she scooped down to pick them up when a different memory flashed in her mind. A long forgotten one from a time before the twins. She was here before, it looked almost identical to now and Karne had brought her here, they were together, they looked happy. They were beside one another on a mattress on the floor and she could still feel the butterflies she had in that moment as though she were living it all over again. Then as quickly as it had come to her, the moment was gone but not forgotten. She knew now why this place was so familiar to her when she first arrived. She had been here before. But Karne, he didn't tell her how she knew it. She thought that maybe she had hurt him by forgetting. How could she forget this place, they had made their babies here.

Drying off, she put on the clothes that Karne provided. A pair of jeans, a tank top and a simple sweater. Nothing complicated or fussy. Just warm comforting clothing which is what she needed right now. She still didn't feel warm despite the fire that was now burning in the fireplace. It was the same in the asylum,  she never felt warm. She didn't remember ever feeling cold as a vampire and yet as a human she never felt warm. She wondered if she was ever going to feel 'normal', if a day would come that she wouldn't feel so strange in her own skin, in her own mind. Towel drying her hair, the natural wave ran through it. Keeping it swept to one side she didn't see fit to do anything else with it. Putting the food back in the bag, she folded her towel and hung it on the side of the bath, having wiped down all the surfaces with it. Leaving the room in a cleaner condition than she had found it. Some habits were hard to break even when you were considered crazy.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she looked to see where Karne had gone and spotted him not far away, not that he could be far away in such a small apartment. She quietly moved back to where she had been sleeping, sitting with her feet under her as she now contemplated eating the sandwich Karne had shown her earlier. Taking it out, she held the box in her hand as she began to speak aloud to Karne. " I remember being here.. before. " she said as she pulled the lid off the front of the box. " We were here, we... the twins.... " she wasn't sure how to say it but she was certain that he knew what she meant. He seemed to get her more then she did at the moment which was both a blessing and a worry. " I'm sorry... I forgot... I shouldn't have forgotten. " she muttered before she took a nibble out of her sandwich. It tasted weird, not bad just strange. Everything seemed strange lately so this was no surprise, she only hoped that with some food and a good rest she could come out of this fog and finally make some sense of everything. She couldn't keep living like this, she wouldn't.