Meet the devil(leyla)

[Tiras Ramsey]

(I've lost this post twice. The two before were longer so forgive me if I don't feel like loosing anything else)

All Gabe complained about was the shifter they kept locked in her room. She was most secure in there since they didn't trust her in the slightest meaning they kept the shutters down and only let her out when she had some house cleaning to do. When that happened there was always one of them watching her. It always happen to be Gabe and when Tiras came back in predawn hours all he heard was complaints about how stubborn she was and what a pain she happened to be. 

The girl had obviously not been trained properly and that was basically all she needed really. Some good firm training. Gabe had been called out on a runaway case that evening. The shifter had been fed after cleaning the penthouse and had received at least three hours sleep so far. Shifters could endure a lot of punishment. Her previous trainer must not have know that. 

Tiras walked toward her room. His fingers caressed the key on the hook for a moment beside her door then he slipped it off the hook. He had his normal stoic expression on his features as he opened the door. It was dark inside. Not the softly lit kind of light they had outside in the rest of the house. He slowly shut the door behind him then flicked the light switch. The light was brilliant and even he flinched a little. His eyes adjusted quickly enough though.

"Wake up, shifter. We have work to do. Come kneel."
He pulled out a chainlink inner spiked choker and a red leash attached to it. He waited, expressionless. They had a birdcage for her if she preferred that.

[Leyla Nejem]

Her first days at Fangs' home went very much like all the times at her other homes. Vampires seemed especially wary with shifters - even more so when they were independent like Leyla - so she had always been kept in as escape-free a room as possible. This fourth home was no different, but it didn't bother Leyla. What fun would it be to run away immediately? She would hardly have had her fun, and the escape would be far less enjoyable that way. Much more pleasurable to have it actually mean something to her captors.

Leyla was a verbal sparrer, so her defiance often showed itself in her words and then in her lack of action. She wasn't prone to violence unless the buzzard started gaining control. So as fiery as she may have been with Gabe verbally, Leyla had still complied with the basic rules and tasks assigned to her. She hated the constant watch over her, but she never tried to escape or shirk cleaning. If they gave her a bit more personal space... well, to be honest, she liked to test people, and Fangs and his twin held a special place on her little hatred list, so she'd probably try very infrequent little pranks. Tests. She hadn't thought of anything in particular yet, though.

Still, a bit of freedom wouldn't lead to her escape. Not only did she want to reap sweet, sweet vengeance on them, but she had to bide her time. She had to have a plan, and those always took ages for her - because they incorporated her parents. She didn't know where they were or precisely where she was with this new home. When she escaped, she had to free them and get them out as fast as possible. There was no room for error. It's why she hadn't made an escape in so long. If they treated her like Henri had, they could keep her around for years. Yes, she would still be defiant, but it wasn't in everything. She would speak her mind and would stand with her principles, but any little chores they gave her to do, she would do them. Heck, she'd gone in and out of town hundreds of times for Henri. She'd even spied sometimes for him - only on other vampires, though.

But Fangs and his brother didn't seem interested in treating her like Henri had, and until they got it through their dead brains, she would have to teach them. They didn't like her lessons, but there was no other way.

Leyla slept in the dark room they'd assigned her. She'd finished her work and had been asleep for a couple of hours now. But then someone entered and a light flicked on. Leyla scrunched her eyes tightly before slowly opening them, trying to give them enough time to adjust before adding more light into the mix.

Rolling over onto her side - she had been facing away from the door - and sitting up slightly, she Fangs' brother. Although they looked identical, she could still tell them apart. First of all, Fangs called her Feathers not "shifter". Second of all, he wasn't as expressionless. Nor did he jump to such harsh or demeaning things as this spiked choker and red leash. Not in Leyla's experience.

The speck of dust that was Fangs' brother hardly bothered her. He was apparently more violent, quicker to anger and be done with the problem in whatever cruel manner he found most fitting. It didn't intimidate Leyla one bit.

"First of all, you do not own me. By your vampire rules, it is your brother who does." Not that she truly believed in the vampire rules, but whatever it took to get something through his thick skull. "Second of all, there is no need for those items." Her eyes and a small nod of her chin indicated the choker and leash in his hands. "If there are more chores around the house for me to do, I shall do them willingly, as I have up to this point." Slowly she stood, perfectly non-threatening. She was submissive in an independent way. It wasn't necessary to have to force her to do it if she was willing - despite her reasons for being compliant. They could co-exist without the threats and rough treatment.

"Only they're vampires," her mind scoffed to herself. "They've forgotten what civil behavior is. What is that phrase or idea or whatever? Something about those at the top being the most paranoid because they have the most to lose?" Though they did deserve to lose their position of power.

Look at the way the twins treated her, after all! It was their incivility that ruffled her feathers - their violence and constant attempts at dominance. If they backed off a bit, like Henri had, they'd learn that she would be much more cooperative. She and her other masters had come to a silent understanding: they would give her orders within what they'd learned were her moral boundaries, and she would comply. Leyla would get the tasks done quickly and efficiently, too, and return home even when set free in the city in buzzard form. Nothing was lost by either side, but there was never any idea that Leyla was "trained" or had been "broken". Nor was there any concept that the vampire wasn't a "master" any longer. Neither side had backed down, but they'd formed a sort of truce. If only the twins could understand this - the thing she had the most difficulty putting into words.