There is the sound of more rustling behind the motel door, and then a pair of men arguing in Spanish, their discourse growing louder and more pressured. When the two men fall silent, there is the sound of footfalls growing closer. The door pulls open about twenty degrees before the chain lock goes tight. The smells from inside come out to hit Anna and Victor in the face.

A man with ruddy face, and red eyes, wearing a threadbare tank and a pair of baggy jeans can be seen through the crack. He knows better than to stare Anna or Victor in the eyes. His face is hard almost unaffected, but Anna can hear the racing of his heart, can smell the stench of fear in his sweat. He says, "Yo, what do you want. We ain't involved in your Masquerade ****, and don't have much to tell you." Behind the door, he shuffles after the statement, doing his best to keep his stare locked on Anna's right shoulder.

************************************************** ********

Mother Blackstar shrugs at this, but doesn't disagree. Instead she says flatly, "Well at least that is taken care of. Tomorrow night then." The woman talking to Rachel now is very far from the friendly woman who had greeted her at before the phone call, and the contrast is stark. This was an ancient and alien thing, like many of the other Elder vampires that Rachel had met. This was a dispassionate, calculating corpse that had survived by being smarter, and more ruthless than her enemies.

Mother Blackstar stares at Rachel, dead eyes studying her. Then a flip switches, and the affectation of mortal warmth returns. "Well, I am so glad we could move this forward," she says with a smile, "you don't know what it would mean for us, if OUR Covenant can make contact with those of the Weird. I think it would offer us the chance to grasp powers unknown."