Seeking the Truth (Rebecca and Simon, OPEN In Between)

[a magical taco]

Richard watched the scene between Rebecca and Simon. Rebecca was trying to come off as kind and caring but after her last comment about putting Kira in danger, all he could think was how little she actually cared about anyone else. Rebecca had put his and Simon's life in danger several times but who cares about that. It became more and more clear to Richard that Rebecca was nothing but a spoiled little rich girl with anger issues. At that moment he thought about manipulating the situations so the idea of actually going to see the vampires would seem like a good one. She could become their puppet or lunch, it seemed the most likely option for what she was proposing. Instead he closed his eyes and waited, he would let Simon handle this one.

[Kunanaki]

Simon paused before speaking in a long manner. "It's just this. When my Brother came and picked me up, he said that they had called him. They knew where I was in the Barn. If they wanted revenge, or something of the sort, they knew where I was and the fact that I was alone." Simon then let out a soft sigh. "They sent the thugs to get me on the road, thinking we as a Cabal are weak. I proved otherwise. Mages operate with Vampires as a position of Strength. The only vampire from that encounter that survived knows about me, and the only number in my phone was my brother. He didn't call for backup, and attack. He told my brother where I was to avoid a future conflict. " After all, they had the BEST shot they could have was by just killing him when he was in the barn. He was touched by Rebecca's desire to smooth it over, but the Vampires should be sending apology notes, not their Cabal.

They had a hard couple of weeks, in which growing pains had forced them to butt heads. A power struggle was still going on, but in truth they were working better together. The rescues of both Kira and Rebecca should have them all closer together, ESPECIALLY after sitting down at the round table and clearing the air. "You're a good person Rebecca." was all that he could finish it with. Then he tucked into his meal, polishing it off in the last few rays of Daylight. They were now a Cabal, and actually that thought sparked something into him. After all, he had just added more to his story for Rebecca, as she asked for. "What should we call our Cabal anyway? Something cool and catchy. Like the Fantastic Four!"

[Akirapryde]

Rebecca listened carefully as Simon started to speak again. For her gratefulness, this time he spoke more like an adult than a child just a few moments ago. While she didn't agree with his conclusions, she could at least respect the thought he put in to them now. 'Respect' she thought as he spoke. Something that was missing from their Cabal. She understood her role in its departure, but wondered if Richard or for that matter Simon understood their own. "Simon." Rebecca said softly then paused putting her thoughts in to order. His kind words were not lost on her. But at this stage in the game, she really wanted to focus on what was going on. "This is why I want to go over every detail with you. Because I don't suspect that this was a random act. I do believe you were targeted, and this is the reason why we need to stand united on this issue.

She paused for a moment to lean back in her chair as she watched him eating. She didn't give much thought to a name for their Cabal. But if it was important to him, she would surely engage in that conversation in its due time. "Regarding these Vampires, I agree with you, they were thugs. But your claims that these thugs were sent after you because they suspected the Cabal as weak doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Consider this for a moment. There was no way for them to know ahead of time that you were on that road, Not even we knew where you were at that time. This hit was not some random act but something planned out. They had to have been observing us prior to the attack" she explained.

She put her years of science to the test as she spoke, "If they were told when and where to find you, then it is possible that another Mage is out there moving against us. If they were observing us, than they would have seen us kill Meatball. He was not just some street thug. There were many people within the underworld communities and even Vampires who were fearful of his activities. My car was sabotaged not by Meatball, but by someone whom had worked with the vampires before." She didn't know this for a fact and decided to clarify that assumption.

"In speaking with Mr. Black, he told me that the person that sabotage my car often worked jobs for him but this act was not under his direction" Rebecca explained truthfully. She hated having to explain this, because she knew what could come afterwards. But she really didn't have a choice. She wanted to be open and honest to the Cabal and show Simon and Richard that she was willing to work together. "After the event in Denver, I called Mr. Black and spoke with him about the attack. He is the one who explained how this event with you, Simon could work against us. At the time, I really wasn't sure what to do. When I talked with you on the phone, you in turn just yelled back at me. In that, it seemed clear to me that you were unwilling to be rational about it. It was going to be through Mr. Black that this meeting was going to be set up."

She took in a deep breath as she decided to just speak from the heart. "I truthfully don't know if I can trust this Mr. Black or not" she paused noting the question in his eyes, or maybe it was just her own guilt feeding her next statement. "At that time, I really didn't know who I could turn to. Sure, we just had a wonderful victory. But there was so much going between us behind the scenes. You have this temper about you Simon that bothers me. Yes I pulled a gun on you, well your brother first then you after you got involve. But that was nothing more than paying him back for his use of magic on me. I thought the prank would be seen for what it was. I used his own very words on him, 'Are you sure that is what you want to do.' She said remembering that moment clearly. She regretted her actions that day.

"It was not the smartest thing I had ever done but I was mad that this stranger so easily used magic on me without my permission. It made me upset so I wanted to show him how it felt to be helpless." She paused a moment, "I really didn't think that prank through. And it exploded so fast in my face. But since then, I didn't repeat it. But you and your brother didn't stop there. After we were selected to work together, he continued to use spells on me. Spells that I didn't appreciate" she paused a moment to clarify something. "I have seen him cast more powerful spells before but this isn't the point. Simon," she said speaking to Simon but secretly hoping that Richard was paying attention as well. "If you ask me not to take your water. Does it matter if I can take your food as well but only take your water. In the end, wouldn't I still be disrespecting your wishes."

She didn't want this to be a beating up on Richard or Simon for that matter, but she knew they needed to know why she felt the way she did last night. She hoped it would speak to her state of mind in why she made the choices that she did. "Then there is you, Simon. While lately we have had pretty decent relations. But as I said, you have this temper about you that can be bothersome. I know I am not prefect, but when will you see that I have stopped threating your life? I did it once, you have done it twice now and have shown your temper as often as I do. If not more."

She didn't want to talk about each time but realized the last time held special negative influence over her recent actions. "In the cave with the large earth spirit. Kira suggested that we use an offering or something to appease the spirit. I remembered how well you handled yourself in the past when speaking with others. You had this way of turning even the most violent situations around. So I said that we had you. In that moment you became anger and accused me of referring you as a slave and threatened to kill me once more if I did it again. The statement you made that moment was completely from Right Field and left me questioning your mental stability."

She took a pause as she mentally and emotionally surrendered herself to the following fact, "I know I am not easy to get along with. I also know that I am part of the problem. This morning, I was ready to leave this house. But it was because of your words is the reason why I am here." It wasn't the complete truth. She wouldn't or refused to allow herself to accept the fact that she might have feeling for Richard. Maybe she just needed a reason to stay and try once more. Still, Simon's words were the tipping point. "I don't want to leave the Cabal" she said in complete truthfulness, "but I can't stay where I am not respected nor where I feel like my personal privacy and safety are threatened. The later seemed to have died down some, but not the former." She really hoped that her words were taken for what they were.

She paused to refocus her thoughts on the original topic, "I suspect that while Meatball is a link to a larger plot, I simply don't know. But what I do know is that if you were right. And there is no value to your phone what makes you think that they wont try again to get what they were really after. I mean think about it..." In mid-sentence she stopped herself as the spell One Mind Two Thoughts allowed her to start to explore other possibilities.

She started to think about the chain of events as a larger series in her mind. First was her car being sabotaged that pitted her and a werewolf against each other. Then came Richard and Meatball who was a powerful construct. Richard was also tested in the ways of his mental powers. Now the Vampires and Simon. Half thinking out loud and half mumbling she uttered, "Each one of us had faced off with powerful supernatural creatures that we had no right surviving." Rebecca leaned forward as she turned to Kira. Her thoughts started to spin and form in her mind. "Think about it for a moment," she said turning back to Simon. "Your right, why call your brother if you just killed three of them. Why wouldn't they go after you for revenge. Instead they made a call to avoid further conflict with us. But this is not the behavior of a predator in dealing with a pray. I wonder....."

She half rose up from her chair and turned to face Richard. She wasn't sure where he was, but hoped that he was close enough to be drawn in to the conversation. Once he was in sight, she lowered herself back in to her chair as she spoke to him directly, "someone behind the scenes is pulling the strings to these encounters. They weren't sent cause they suspected us to be weak. These encounters are by design, to test our strengths and unity for the conflicts yet to come. To test us as individuals and as a Cabal as a whole." She paused allowing anyone to speak. Hoping that someone will either support or disprove her working theory.

[a magical taco]

Richard listened to Rebecca. For once she actually sounded more like a person with a soul than a sociopathic banister. When she stopped suddenly he opened his eyes. She rouse quickly from her seat and looked around quickly, Richard prepared himself for an attack but she stopped when her eyes found him and she sat back down. She was suggesting that everything, or at least much, of the last couple weeks had been connected. It could be true, why not?

"If what you're saying turns out to be true it would seem Mr. Black is the most likely connection to all of this. He approached you after a show, he knew meatball even knew about the break in, and he is a vampire. The only thing he doesn't appear connected to is the monster prison break the other day."

[Akirapryde]

Rebecca noted Richard's tension when she turned around to see him. She found his reaction odd but then again everyone was jumpy. 'This is no way for a Cabal to operate. We are more fearful of each other than of the real enemy,' she thought to herself. It was remarkable how the spell One Mind Two Thoughts allowed her to split her attention like this. She could explore his actions while focusing keenly on each word he said. She started to realize why Richard found this spell so useful. But she could also see how easily one could forget their origins. As he spoke, she nodded in agreement with his statement. He was right about Mr. Black, the man did appear to be linked to what was going on. "Either linked or otherwise at the center of what was going..."

Rebecca's voice was stolen from her as a shiver shot down her spin. This shiver caused her entire body to shiver as if she had suddenly been exposed to subzero temperatures. It was the strangest of feelings as if in that moment she felt as if her whole existence had been forced in to question. Rebecca found the sensation so unnerving that it broke her concentration. The feeling was so overwhelming and her concentration was so disrupted that her spells slipped from her control. There was no hiding the emotional reaction that suddenly was written across her face. Her eyes went wide with shock and surprise as her magical vision faded. Tricks of the mind caused her to see dark things reaching for her from even the slightly of shadows. Rebecca tried to refocus her mind on what she was saying however the sensation was just too over powering for her. Just then, suddenly, in that moment, the feeling was gone. As suddenly as it had begun its race down her back, that horrible sensation was gone.

After a moment, Rebecca finally realized that she was shaking. She fought to recover much of her normal mind. It was the strangest of things that she could only relate to as being on a beach. Standing in the surf, then without warning a wave hit her. It washed over her and just as suddenly as it hit, it had moved on. To her surprise, her spells were gone with that unnatural wave. She tried to activate them, but her mind was too shaken by what happened for her to refocus the magic. "I am sorry" she said with a trembled voice. It was clear that something had shaken. "I must.....must be more tired than I had realized," she said in a shaky, stuttered voice. Not knowing how better to explain what just happened, she lied. It was her first time lying to the group and it was a horrible effort. After all, Rebecca was not known for her lying ability. Still, what could she really say. Rebecca didn't even know what happened to her or the cause of it. More so, even worse for her. Despite all that she had been through to this date. Rebecca felt fear on a level that she never experienced before.

Rebecca started to get up leaning more heavily on the chair than normally. "On second thought," she said slipping back in to her chair. "Ignore what I just said" she said truthfully hoping that they would dismiss the feeble attempt at lying. She didn't know what she was thinking in that statement. "I do not think" her voice still suffered from a bit of being unsettled but slowly returning to a leveled state. While she wasn't known for lying, she was known for her remarkable inner courage and strength. Rebecca summoned up her will to pull herself back together. She wouldn't allow this strange thing to change what she worked so hard to build in this conversation. "That the lake creature had anything to do with anything besides my own nearsightedness."

[a magical taco]

Richard watched Rebecca as she spoke, saw her shiver, and then the first time since he met her listen to her lie. something more than exhaustion caused her to drop all her spells at once. "So much for honesty and corporation" and he turned around and walked out of the room.