Chapter 30: Perilous Proceedings by Strato

"We go now, live, to the campaigning base for the Parker administration. Gary what do you think..."

Tony flipped off the screen as the room filled with melancholia. It had seemed for a while that the election was going to be a clear defeat for Parker, but the results were simple and plain to see. The group seemed to be distracted momentarily from Yakira to let the news sink in. Tom paced around shaking his head, with Susan patting his back in a vain attempt of comfort. Tony still seemed fairly lost in this new setting, and stayed at Yakira's side for lack of a better idea. Alexander's green-blue pupils dilated as he imagined the implications of this man, this friend of the undead in power. Nervously, he pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses. Tier and Michelle were withdrawn to each other, quietly whispering. Louie braced himself on the foot of Yakira's bed, staring at his feet. Majo held her hand to her face with one finger pressed lightly against her lips. Yakira was drawing pained and short breaths, while coughing occasionally.

A loud snapping noise erupted in the room, to which everyone was taken completely by surprise. Majo, looking excited, had snapped her fingers.
"I got it. Why don't we just kill Gary Parker?" she proposed. "He's just one rabbit with a lot of influence, perhaps but still, we easily have the power to take him down."
Louie scoffed and shook his head. The unexpected reminder of Estella's existence, and the fact that she was so close now, made him sick. He felt his blood hammering away in his neck. He cocked his head to look back at Majo now. "We, meaning myself, do not have to power to face off the legions of very angry followers, living and dead, that will be triggered against us if we even so much as think of doing that. Let's leave political assassinations to the paid professionals." Louie finished bitingly.
Majo was taken aback. She drew her right paw up to her chest in a gesture of surprise. Inwardly, she had been expecting full support for her plan. The idea seemed decent enough. "You're forgetting about Alexander. Schism will cover up the murder, right?" She had turned to Alexander and looked up at him hopefully. Alexander paused briefly before giving his own reply.
"What makes you think I want to help you? Or anybody here for that matter. My job here is done and I didn't have to lift a finger. A vampire with a massive bounty on his scalp is in the same room as me. And if that wasn't valid enough, your predicament in no way affects me." Alexander smirked and shot a glance at Louie. "Personally, I think your troubles would be easier solved if I killed this guy and got out of here." Louie wanted to retort with a reply but someone beat him too it.
"You have a lot of gall." Susan uttered. She had turned away from Tom on the other side of the room, and began to walk up towards Alexander, finger raised. Louie snapped his mouth shut and looked at Susan. "The nerve of you, to come into our house and threaten our friend like that. We gave you our hospitality, and he even spared you your life." She was yelling at this point, barely inches from Alexander.
"Why I oughtta-" She stopped for a second, quivering with fury, and then whipped her paw across Alexander's face with a satisfying slap. Alexander's head was turned slightly to the right with a very surprised expression. Nobody had expected Susan to be capable of that level of anger. The whole room feel into an unsettling silence again, spare for Yakira's uneasy breathing.
"I think...she needs help." Tony timidly submitted. The tension of the environment ebbed as people began to remember Yakira's pain. Susan's face turned utterly pale as her head drew towards the ground. Tom sprung up to guide her into a chair.
"We're doing the best we can." Louie grunted. He relaxed his arms and let them fall to his side. Michelle got up and quietly hurried herself to the kitchen. Louie took to the back porch. He pushed open the sliding glass door, and leaned against the railing with both arms. He let his anger flow out from his body as he tried to cool down from the heat of the moment, but it was ineffective. His anger towards Alexander quickly manifested itself into his anger at Estella. Ever since Yakira arrived, he had felt something about her. Pity, perhaps, but it was unimportant until now. All of her problems, they stemmed from Estella Bane. Curse that name, Louie thought, as he slapped his palm down on the railing. Susan was working on re-applying Yakira's bandages up in Yakira's bedroom, like she did thrice a day, and Louie felt the urge to help her. But something was holding him back. Louie was anchored by some indescribable emotion that prevented him from walking over to aid her. It was a combination of his feelings against Estella, and the disturbance he felt about Yakira. Susan came down into the living room, and looked outside at Louie. He was pre-occupied in his own thoughts and wouldn't have seen her anyway. After a moment, she took a seat by Tom's side

Up in Yakira's room by her bed, Tony was standing there, his mind reeling. He felt around behind him for a place to sit, and grasped the seat of a chair. He drew it up next to Yakira's bed and fell into it. He had just diverted a crisis. The last thing the group needed was in-fighting. Tony let the thought of Mayo's plan sink in a little bit. To kill a prestigious leader of both the living and the dead? It seemed an almost unthinkable plot. But still, he couldn't help toy with the idea of it. That hero's mentality; he could almost taste the satisfaction now. He couldn't help but smile a bit while fathoming the plot, the rewards, the banquets in his name. His facial expression must have seemed vastly out of line for the current mood, as Majo gave him a queer look. Noticing this, Tony quickly wiped the smile from his face and began to focus on the situation at hand. He let his vision drop onto the broken rabbit next to him, and he felt her pain inside himself. Tony began to feel a bit disturbed, and was compelled to do something. He reached out with his paw and placed it on her shoulder.
"Are you still awake?" he asked quietly.
Yakira's eyes slid open. She looked back at Tony's nervous face.
"Y...yess. Is there some...something you needed to...to ask me?" she queried. Tony thought for a second, and then said no.
"I just wanted to tell you that you're safe now, from wherever you came from and whatever hurt you so badly." Tony declared "Louie and I are gonna make sure of that." Yakira smiled at this thought, giving Tony a sense of reassurance, before her eyes shut once more. Tony felt slightly at ease again.

Susan Bradhurst, though looking quite flustered, was sitting upright on a couch under a window with Tom trying to comfort her by her side. He repeatedly stroked her arm and asked how she was doing.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just got myself carried away a bit for a moment." she answered. Susan looked around for a second, and then leaned in to Tom's ear. In a whisper, she continued.
"But the nerve of that man. I swear."
Tom felt hesitant before saying what was on his mind. He let in a good breath and then spoke.
"We need him though, if we want to kill Parker."
Susan pushed Tom away and looked struck in shock. "You're not serious, are you?"
"In all honesty, it needs to be done. And why not by people we've only you know, just met? It's imperative that we get him out of power as soon as possible. Who knows what he might do with that position. We can't run that risk." Tom asserted.
"I am agog." Susan stammered. "In all my days I would never consider you one to even think about doing something like that. I never should have let you surround yourself with this horror show."
Tom looked away from Susan's eyes. He couldn't believe himself either. Susan bowed her head and placed her paw on Tom's.

Alexander was checking his person to make sure that he still had everything he came with. He reached into his coat's inner pocket, and felt around, counting to himself. One...two...three syringes of Silver nitrate. Injected into an artery, the chemical would easily kill a rabbit, and spell a very excruciating death for a vampire. He felt his face and ran his fingers across his slightly uncomfortable stubble. He pushed up his glasses, and then ascertained that the rest of his belongings must be up in the room they placed him in. He walked up the stairs and walked up to his bedside. Much to Alexander's relief, his crossbow was still intact. He picked it up, and felt the incredibly heavy Rocktree wood in his arms. He hefted it, grasped the strap, and slung it around his shoulder, letting it rest on his back. Alexander then bent over to pick up another piece of his equipment, a simple combat knife. However, he was still missing his most prized possession. He felt around under the bed for it nervously. Finally, he felt his fingers grasp it's wooden handle. He pulled it out, and held it in front of him to bask in its glory. Alexander placed his pipe firmly in between his lips and began to dig around in his pocket for a small parcel of tobacco. "I didn't take you for a smoker."
Majo's voice came as an unexpected surprise to Alexander. She was standing in the doorframe with one arm rested against it, leaning in. Alexander paused to give her a dirty look.
"Nothing helps you get through the hard times like and addiction." he uttered, and then drew out a small bag of tobacco. He ripped it open and filled up his pipe.
"Does that make you feel badass or something stupid like that?" she asked. Alexander gave no reply, instead he lit up and inhaled deeply. "It's a shame that second hand smoke stuff is so terrible, because what I'm breathing in is great stuff." Alexander mocked. Majo rolled her eyes and set her paws on her hips. She walked in farther to Alexander's room, and stood across the bed from him.
"I was hoping-" she started. "That I would reconsider your proposition?" Alexander finished. "No deal. Besides, I highly doubt I'm welcome with your pack anymore." he released a small plume of smoke with each syllable, and then took in another long breath with one hand lightly supporting the end of his pipe. Outside on the staircase, Louie was creeping up to listen in on the conversation, the hunter could be a valuable asset to their team. He began to listen at the edge of the hallway. "Pack eh? You make us sound like dogs. And after all that time we spent working together to give a home to those Diamondus war refugees, and you still want to break away from us and go back home? What happened to companionship?" Majo accused. Alexander exhaled another cloud of smoke, and then removed his pipe to talk again.
"My job here is finished. Nothing more, nothing less." Alexander stated in a definite manner. Majo threw up her arms while turning and walking away.
"You're impossible. Honestly. Think about it this way. When you go back and talk to Schism, they'll probably just make it your next mission to kill Parker anyway." Majo said, trying to coax Alexander to her side. However, Alexander still remained defiant. He placed his pipe back into his mouth and smoked again.
"My business is with killing the undead, not with killing a political figure head." Alexander declared. Majo's head was searching for an argument to this point, but before she could find one, Alexander had started heading towards the doorway. Louie tensed, and began crouching while laying flat against the wall. He waited.
"I'm almost flattered that you want my help. But sadly, I just can't see why I should have anything to do with you." Alexander finalized, and then continued to head towards the door. Louie sunk back farther into the shadows in preparation. Alexander walked out of the door, merely inches from Louie's jaws. He turned and walked down the stairs. Louie shot up almost instantaneously, and entered the room with Majo.
"We're not going to kill Parker. Whatever the hell made you think that was a good idea, you had better cut it out. Plus we've got a much bigger problem on our hands now. Yakira, that girl. Estella tore her to shreds just to send me an ultimatum."
"Oh, so that explains your inability to stay in the room with her. You're scared, aren't you Louie?" Majo derived.
"Of Estella, no." Louie replied nonchalantly and totally dodging what Majo was trying to get him to say. "I'm not scared. I'm angry. I want to know why she's trying to destroy me. And that girl probably didn't deserve to be Estella's vessel of misplaced anger. All I feel is hatred towards her now." Louie was now talking in a low hiss. Majo felt defeated inwardly. For the second time, she had tried to drive at something with Louie, only to be rebuffed. She was attempting to unearth empathy in him, but realized that Louie was more undead than ever before, and growing colder, at least towards her. She almost began to feel jealous that Louie's attention was spread across the board now that they had settled in with Tom and Susan and everyone else, and that she was no longer under his vigilant eye. "Cold, calculating vampire." she replied with a bitter tact. Majo immediately felt childish for chiding Louie like that. She tried to cover-up what she said by mentioning Parker again quickly, but didn't listen to his reply. Inside, her brain was racked with one massive dilemma. Why did she lash out at Louie like that? What had made her get so upset about him? Did she love him?