Thursday, November 25, 1999: 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm

It took her fifteen minutes to slowly and quietly make her way through the tangle of flesh. Arms, legs, and hair looped over and around torsos, shoulders, loose pieces of clothing. It took her fifteen minutes to find him in the twisting mass. Now, as Isolde found him, she considered tiptoeing back to the Explorer to get the camera she kept under the front seat.

Mallory lie almost completely naked on the floor before her, a pair of silky lace panties around one ankle, someone’s long straight black hair covering his chest. Isolde could not quickly identify the head that sprouting it. A blonde, short haired, petite blond girl nestled in the crock of his arm. A smile of contentment spread across his face.  She cursed herself for not bringing the camera to begin with.  She should have known the outcome of a night out with Teddy. The entertainment, if not extortive, value of photographic evidence would have proved invaluable.

She took off her CPD baseball cap and shook her long, blonde hair out of its ponytail. She bent at the waist, letting her tresses tickle Mallory’s nose. His smile widened.

"Mallory," she whispered, mustering a husky tone to her voice. He continued to smile, his eyelids fluttering.

"Mallory," she said again more loudly. He stirred a bit on the floor.

"Mallory," she said in a full voice, her face barely containing her smile, "The boss is coming."

Mallory’s eyes flew open with the shock. "She’s coming, Is?"

"Oh, yes. She’s almost here."

Mallory sat up with a start. "Make this place more secure. Get these people out of here, but be polite, and … find my clothes." Isolde couldn’t hide her smile as she went about her tasks.

With a firm politeness, she rousted the fellow revelers, occasionally offering assistance in a particularly complex entanglement. They left in a warm, blissful haze, exchanging kisses and hugs as they left.  She saw Teddy lead a stunning Asian woman to the front door. He came back to help clear the room.

"This be the place?" she asked.

"Dis be da Place, Sista!" he responded, white teeth almost swallowing his dark face.

"Hey, thanks."

"For what, mum? I didn’t see you in the crowd last night."

Isolde nodded in Mallory’s direction. "He needed an opportunity to relax."

"My pleasure, mum." It was always Teddy’s pleasure.

Heather arrived with Wang as the last of the crowd left. She wheeled he hospital bed into the warehouse elevator and took him to the second floor. Tristan and the most drop dead gorgeous Chinese woman arrived shortly thereafter. Mallory, Simon, Teddy, and Isolde all stood slack jawed as she followed Tristan upstairs to visit Wang. Even after she went to the second floor, the four stood silent in the beauty of her. For a moment, Isolde felt sad. Only the Toreador Portia commanded attention like that. Isolde wondered at what price came that beauty.

The others arrived in dribs and drabs, Dr. Thomas and Critias arriving last. The Asian woman shocked them all again with the deep kiss she planted on the good doctor’s mouth. Past the initial shock, Isolde felt sadness again. Aoife would have loved to have seen that kiss. It would have left her giggling for hours at the expense of the prim, Victorian Ventrue. Isolde had heard Samantha on the phone with Floyd Hemlock last night. She could not bear the thought of seeing Jacob again, not after he took another so dear to her.

Isolde looked at the Asian woman as Critias and Dr. T explained the evening’s plans. Dr. Thomas had introduced her as Mioshiyoku, Yoku for short. She wondered if Yoku always left that feeling in those who saw her, the overwhelming admission of beauty followed by a tinge of sadness.

Sir Reginald left with LaToya, Dr. Himmelman, and the two new faces, Jimmy and Aamina. They went off to face some Sabbat threat. Jimmy seemed fit enough for one of the un-dead. Aamina, well Isolde recognized Aamina, recognized her as the past Isolde had tried to put behind her. Aamina chilled her at the remembering.

Isolde went to the Explorer to pull out rifle concealed under the storage area. While the others went off to decimate the evil undead, Isolde and her brother would watch over Mallory, Simon, Siobhan, Teddy, Yoku, and some other Mages as they attempted to restore Wang through some ritual.

As she made herself to the roof of the warehouse, Isolde watched the group prepare for the spell. She did not know what success the evening might hold, but she felt it would change them. Change them all.

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