The Employee [Closed!]

[Piper]

It had taken Piper a few hours to finally leave the tavern. Even as she walked the wet streets of RBC, she conversed with the voices in her head. Her mother scolded her for letting Liander walk all over her, and her patients chided her for lying to Saressa. She had no card game to attend. No; she had to meet with her employer, Caelestis Solus.

Within the city, there existed a balance between those of power and those they controlled. Cael promised Piper knowledge in exchange for her work, but her work consisted of staying quiet. After almost a week of silence, she had stumbled upon the taverns. And since then, she’d refused to exist among the shadows. She longed for an unlife that everyone else had. More than anything, she wanted to quit her job.

“I don’t want to be a cheap employee. And I’m not an illegal immigrant,” she thought, licking her dry lips. “I’ll just tell him I went out and he’ll have to understand. He’s a good boss. There are surely others like me. He can hire someone else.” She came to a stop in the middle of the city and began reading the neon signs for the name of the pub she needed.

“Don’t let someone else walk on you, Carolina,” her mother’s voice echoed. “You are not a puppet. Where has my beautiful daughter gone?” Piper brushed a few stray strands of brown hair behind her ear and continued walking.

Night after night, she’d used her knowledge, her God-given gift of sights, to find information for the man known as Caelestis, a man she’d never once met face-to-face. If only she truly understood that the city was packed with others just like her---the employees; the silent ones. They existed among the powerful like pitiful pawns. Tonight though, she left their ranks. Tonight, she lived.

She entered the empty pub and waved at the polite bartender. Only one other person was in the establishment; Caelestis waited for her. He’d told her that he wanted her to do her job and shut up. She wondered if he held a temper like every other man.

“Caelestis? My name is--,” she stopped when he motioned for her to take a seat.

“I know who you are,” he’d said, finishing off his glass of blood.

[Cael]

Caelestis never planned on meeting with his employees. In fact, he hated the idea of acting like a slave driver. His clan told him to find some ‘pires and promise them the cushy life of an---hell, he forgot the term the clan leader had used. Regardless, he was promised that unlife for the employees was pleasant. They lied to him.

“Get me another drink.” He set seventy coins upon the bar and slumped in his chair.

“I’ve been having this problem with a frog---,” Cael cut the bartender off with a glare. “Enjoy your drink.” The man turned and moved further down the bar, busying himself with cleaning a few open areas.

Cael knew his employees by heart. Every single employee shared a connection with him. It wasn’t a strong bond made by blood; it was a single chip he’d had implanted into them. It had all sounded futuristic, at the time, but RavenBlack was no stranger to that idea. He honestly had no choice in the matter.

When he first found out that Piper had been going out, he thought the girl would do as the other employees had and avoid the area like a plague; however, something must have happened. She’d asked for a meeting; she wanted to see his face. All he knew was that she was Hispanic, and her name was Piper. Hell, the girl had a few hundred pints and two powers.

“Caelestis,” he ignored the words that came after his name; he knew it was Piper.

“I know who you are.” Cael sighed and nudged the stool next to him with his foot. “You don’t have a lot to do. Is something wrong with the robbing areas? Are you having trouble with blood? I gave you a map.” He lifted his drink and sipped at the fresh blood.

He didn’t know what else to say to the girl. Lestat never gave him any instructions when it came to handling employees. He’d never had slaves, in his human life. Looking down at the blood, he stared at the wavering reflection of his face. Things weren’t going right for him. Silently, he hoped the girl had better news.

[Piper]

Piper placed her hands upon the bar and hoisted herself up into the higher stool. Her umbrella knocked against the edge of the bar until she let it fall to the floor. The map her employer had given her remained tucked into the pocket of her coat, her backless dress rather wrinkled from being forced into the unattractive raincoat.

“I used to be a nurse, you know,” Piper began, staring off in thought. “What sort of job do I have now? I can’t wait for Gavin if I’m not allowed into the taverns. I have a mind and feelings..”

She tapped her rainbow-painted nails on the bar, nodding only when a drink was placed in front of her. Every part of her urged her to tell Caelestis about the threat to her blood and coin. After all, she was his employee. Nothing really belonged to her. At any time, he’d told her, she could lose every coin she’d collected.

“I ran into a hunter.” She slid her hands to the edge of the bar until she could rest them in her lap. “I received four thousand coins, you see. So I banked every one. And when I went into the tavern, I met a man named Liander.” She remembered how she’d cried in Saressa’s arms over the threats she’d received from Liander.

For the first time, she allowed her brown eyes to travel to Caelestis. Her employer didn’t look cruel at all, but she had a feeling that he could do nothing for her. He didn’t know her; she didn’t know him. Twelve thousand pints and all powers completed! She paled in comparison.

“I’m going to be zeroed. I tried to lie about a sire. And a clan. I tried,” she took a drink of the scotch. “I can’t work for you anymore. I failed. I’m sorry.”

The heavy silence weighed on her every muscle. Freedom wasn’t free.

[Cael]

Exactly what he didn’t need to hear! It was his first time in a clan that demanded he run employees, and he’d already failed, all because Piper refused to listen. His first thoughts focused on how Lestat would react. But those thoughts ceased to exist when he realized that the ‘pire next to him would be zeroed. She was going to lose every pint to her name.

“You’re my employee. You can’t just quit.” Even as he spoke, he was going over every option at his disposal.

If he called his clan leaders, could he save Piper? Wasn’t there anything that would work?! The chip that connected them prevented him from getting too close. Although he didn’t know the girl, he didn’t want to see her suffer. Still, no solution came to mind.

“I can’t help you at all. What did you do to Liander? You had to have done something. Ugh. I told you not to go out.” He slammed his drink back onto the bar and grumbled to himself.

[Piper]

She twirled a lock of hair around her index finger. Her mother’s voice sounded pleased as she urged her daughter to tell the story. If she hurried, she would have enough time to head back into the other tavern and wait for Gavin. Or perhaps she’d see Keagan.

“Mama called him a white devil,” she frowned, nodding along with her mother’s words. “She doesn’t like foreigners; she doesn’t trust men. You know how she is.” Of course, Caelestis didn’t know, since he couldn’t hear her mother’s voice. “He got so angry. I might have called him an American pig. My memory is bad.” She honestly couldn’t remember the specifics of the encounter.

Piper clenched her hands in her lap. She’d refused to pay Liander the coins he demanded to leave her alone, and she’d refused to apologize. She knew her place was not below that man. Piper was a small girl, in regards to blood and powers, but she hated being looked down on. She’d only gone into the taverns for Gavin. She had such terrible luck.

“He wanted my coins, and he told me he would keep me from getting powers. I have no sire, and I have no clan. I can’t defend myself.” And without saying it, she knew he couldn’t defend her. “I’m going to die. I’m scared.” She lowered her head, staring down at the worn wood of the bar top.

[Cael]

Without telling the girl, he promised himself he wouldn’t run her as an employee. If she lost every pint of her blood to stand up for her own cause, she deserved to be her own ‘pire. Even though he knew Lestat would probably scold him for failing to run employees, he didn’t really care. He wanted to rely on himself for whatever he needed, regardless of the cost. And if his clan refused to accept him, then he refused to stay amongst them.

“I can’t save you from this, Piper. You opened and your mouth and you insulted the man. I know he’s an asshole, but you need to stand on your own.” He released his hold on every single employee except for one, his senses focusing solely on his own finances and blood ranking. “Look, I’ll try to follow you, and I’ll displace him. But I can’t do any more. You really couldn’t listen?”

When he looked at her, he couldn’t help but sigh. He’d never lost a lot of blood; he’d never been involved in any real fight. And there was that little lady, two powers to her name. She was going to feel a lot of pain. Garlic spray and scrolls would take her down easily; she’d even been zeroed by a hunter.

“I won’t meet with you again.” He slipped the girl his address and phone number, but he knew she knew better than to contact him. “If you say you’re done, then you’re done.”

He got up and grabbed his coat from atop the bar. Sliding it on over his white t-shirt, he smiled politely at the girl and turned his back on her. Employees weren’t for him. If he refused to hide, he wanted her to do the same.

[Piper]

Piper did as she was told. After she’d left the pub, and even the nights before the attacks, she continued biting humans and gathering coins. Every evening, she ventured into the taverns to look for her deceased fiancé; every evening, he never showed. When the time came for her to die, it happened while she slept. She awoke with only several pints in her system.

Liander stood and waited for her, almost as if he expected the little vampiress to fight back. Alas, she lacked the knowledge and the weapons. Scrolls sent her tumbling onto the ground and sprays burned at her flesh. Her beautiful dress reeked of garlic. Still, she refused to move to apologize. She waited for the man to strike. And that was when he disappeared.

“Caelestis?” She thought she saw the man, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

Minutes passed; hours passed. She went about her rituals of collecting blood and coin. When Liander returned for the last of her pints, she died gracefully. Burnt and devoid of blood, she retreated to the darkest of alleys to cry the tears that no other deserved to see. She’d promised herself another man wouldn’t touch her, and yet another had.

“It’s almost time for Gavin,” she said aloud, talking only to her mother. “I can’t go out like this.” She looked down at her torn and bloodied dress. “He would worry, you know. Mama, you know.” She hummed to herself as she went in search of better clothing. “I can’t be late for our date. Men hate waiting..”