%&!#@...and then some.

Amazed at her ability to complete the entire journey back from the House of Pain in complete silence, the minute she got inside the condo she let loose with a loud, blood curdling scream. Fortunately for the neighbors, she'd taken the time to grab one of her pillows, and had placed it across her face. The noise she made, however muffled, was still a very clear indication of how frustrated and angry she was.

Once she felt there was no noise left inside her, she threw herself down onto the couch and stared at Mathias. She still hugged the pillow to her, gripping it so hard that her knuckles were bloodless.

"Mathias...how...I mean, you...and well, the clan...my god, it is the twenty first century! And it's...well Ellis...she's just...ARRRGGHHHH!!!"

Her anger wouldn't let her form the words...this was just not how life was
now...Nachton or no...vampires or humans...Ellis and what she proposed was...it was just barbaric.

"I cannot fathom how vampires and humans have coexisted as long as they have, when you...THEY treat us...like...animals! Cattle...we're cattle...kept around to be milked when the need is there, and expected to quietly chew our cud while we wait for the next milking!"

It wasn't fair to Mathias, for her to include him in her tirade, and she really hadn't. But her anger had precluded her from stating that he was the exception...
And then she was standing again...pacing...the pillow in her hands she kept trying to rip apart. Her eyes flashing, as they darted around the room, trying to light on something long enough to allow her to focus. But her mind was a tumultuous mess.

"A drink...I need a drink..."Â?

And she needed another cigarette, and she needed Mathias. But she could focus on only one thing at a time. She moved into the kitchen, and carefully pulled the bottle of Laphroaig from her cabinet. The scotch was over thirty years old, and had been given to her father by someone he'd done some legal work for. Fortunately for Shay, her father didn't drink scotch, so without a thought he handed the bottle over to her...even after she told him it had to have cost over $500. The bottle was two thirds full, and Shay normally only drank it on the most special of occasions,
but in a sense, today she was celebrating...becoming a familiar...a pet...an item of
chattel, she thought bitterly.

She also pulled out a newer bottle, of as yet unopened Chopin vodka. Not really having been much of a vodka drinker, Shay had done a small bit of research on the alcohol and come to the conclusion this was one of the world's best. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if Mathias actually drank. Though he'd bought her drinks before, now that she thought about it, had she ever seen him drink? But if he wanted it, it was there. The bucket of ice in the freezer was also set out, and the bottle of vodka shoved unceremoniously into the bucket. All her movements were precise, if not
graceful, and being quiet was of little concern, as she slammed things around.

Finally, she poured two fingers of scotch into a glass, and held up the other glass towards Mathias.

"Surely you'll have a drink with your cow?"Â?

It was the bitter way she said it that shook her, when she heard the words coming from her mouth. Then she gasped, set both glasses down, and collapsed onto the counter, arms over her head.

"I'm sorry."Â?