The Death Card of the Major Arcana

It was, relatively speaking, a calm day for Jezebel. His father had seen no need to summon him for any reason, which was fortunate. None of the other Delilah members had sought to bother him for some petty grudge or unnecessary nuisance. And, so far, Cain had not done anything that would require him to dispose of some evidence. Again.

So, it was not a bad day at all, really.

He'd needed to make a run for supplies -- it was so easy to run out of syringes and vials and poisonous ingredients, after all. He had brought Cassian with him for an extra set of hands. As the day slowly began to approach evening, they made their way back to Delilah, carrying the day's wares.

On the way back, Jezebel's attention was grabbed by an auction of some kind being set up. Animals of various types were being sold at some sort of outdoor market. A few were in cages, but others were merely set up in temporary pens. There were a few horses, a cow or two, and several dogs that were clearly being sold as ratcatchers or sheep herders.

Jezebel couldn't help but glance at them. Nearing one of the pens, he reached out to pet one of the larger dogs, which panted happily before licking his hand.

I like it when the universe conspires to make things just a tad more convenient. We've found our first guinea pig.

And, strangely enough, she doesn't seem to mind tagging along with a group of murderers and sociopaths. She seems rather eager about the whole thing.

This should go well~

Meridiana's run away. She made a sheet ladder and climbed out of the window last night. She even cut off most of her own hair to aid her ability to escape.

Knowing her, and knowing that pesky Earl she's so infatuated with, here is my wager: she'll be back within forty-eight hours. With the Earl in tow.

And she will think that I won't be expecting them.

( Short video clip )

Our murder witness should be no longer a source of concern within a few days; I snuck a needle with medication into one of his toys. I imagine he'll regain his senses soon. Considering Gilford Lauderdale is a spoiled, self-centered aristocrat who is about to lose his inheritence because of his madness and was being beaten daily by his own servants, I imagine he's going to have bigger things to worry about any "red ram"s he might have witnessed...and since his madness is what's about to cost him his title, I doubt he'll be mentioning to anyone that he met the devil in his basement.

Earl Cain has been sniffing around; he went to visit Meridiana's old home, though I doubt he learned much, since her mother is the one who's been, shall we say, keeping Meridiana "fed". Her grave was also dug up in the last night, which I doubt is a coincidence.

None of that would be bothersome if Meridiana hadn't run away to go see him. Cassian found her within an hour, but the change in her behavior is worrisome.

And even that would not be so very bad except I think that Earl Cain will not be off our trail anytime soon.

It seems that while collecting blood for Meridiana -- and only a day after the Card Master ordered us not to interfere with the Earl -- Meridiana's mother hacked Cain's fiancee into bits with an axe.

This is not going very well.

There's been some slight hiccups along the road these last few days. A local nobleman's son witnessed, shall we say, the collecting of Meridiana's food? Somehow he managed to spot it even in a dark alleyway in Whitechapel.

Luckily for us, the witness in question is completely insane. He has the mentality of a seven year-old, so the most he's been able to tell anyone is that he saw a "red ram".

I'm having Cassian keep an eye on him for now. Perhaps further action may need to be taken.

Oh, and joy of joys: Meridiana, who has barely been able to muster the emotion to change expressions, had a nervous breakdown in the middle of her fortune-telling the other evening. Even better: she was reading the fortune of one Earl Cain Hargreaves, from my little jaunt into the town of vampires.

How very very curious.

[video]

[There is a short, clearly accidental clip that takes place inside Jezebel's laboratory. On one of the tmetal tables sits a young woman wearing a simple robe, staring blankly ahead at Jezebel and a tall figure standing with him. You might recognize the girl; she was once the corpse that Jezebel was sewing together.

She steps onto the floor from the table, standing straight and walking a few steps, her face expressionless. With a small cry, the figure near Jezebel rushes forward and embraces her, cooing and muttering endearments at her while stroking her hair. The girl doesn't seem to react. And all the while, Jezebel stands to the side, taking notes.]


[text]

[The text is clearly not written for the community's sake; it's Jezebel's notes, scrawled haphazardly across the page.]

M has awoken five minutes after ritual. Motor and verbal skills are excellent, no signs of physical deterioration or remaining injuries.

Shows signs of amnesia -- did not recognize J. Showing complete lack of emotion. Overlooked brain damage? Result of trauma from death/betrayal? Investigate.

Meeting with CM tomorrow. Bring notes.

[And then, in even sloppier handwriting than the rest, is a small note that was clearly written long after the rest in the midst of excitement]

M is showing signs of clairvoyance.

Well, that virus was certainly enjoyable, wasn't it?

It was almost enough to make me want to start teaching.






((He's kidding. Mostly.))

It's over.

There never was a vampire. Just a girl who'd gone mad.

She had been abused by her stepfather, and it seems to have pushed her over the edge. Her face was disfigured by her father, and he died shortly after; when that happened, she started going insane and believed all sorts of legends about her ancestors being vampires. Her brother tried to protect her from anyone suspecting what she'd done, but that couldn't last forever.

A group of townspeople stormed their home; in the scuffle, the place lit on fire. The brother locked himself in a room with his sister while everyone else fled. The place burned to the groun. Earl Cain tried to go back for them but it wasn't any use.

I'll be glad to be rid of this place. We're returning to London in a few days. Earl Cain seems to blame himself for what happened; it'd be best if we left soon.

It really was the butler who was poisoning Earl Cain. Er. Earl Cain Hargreaves, so no one misunderstands.

He tried sneaking hemlock into a pearl drink he gave to Miss Merry -- Earl Cain's younger sister. Earl Cain figured out the ruse when he tried to take a sip and Riff smashed the cup away from him. The bottle of poison was in his pocket; he'd also been stealing antivenom from my medical case, it seems.

At least he confessed and went off with as little trouble as possible. I don't know why Cain doesn't simply call the police, but I think perhaps he's too distressed at the moment.


...they've found a tenth body dead from the supposed vampire as well. This whole retreat seems to be unendingly grim.

For the love of God.

We were told to do one thing when we got here: ONE THING. We were told to not go out at night, because that is when people go missing and turn up missing all their blood. If we obeyed that one simple thing, then we'd all be fine.

And what did he do.

What does the Earl do the first night we arrived?

He goes out, and he got attacked. Of course.

It is incredibly difficult to recover your health when you're ACTIVELY PUTTING YOURSELF IN HARM'S WAY.