Devil You Know

Easy Strike.

Cassius was driving again. He had received his next set of instructions from Elliot and was travelling north to his next project. His calm, immovable exterior belied the excitement that was building within him; this promised to be even more satisfying than his first task. He loved the build up to a kill, the thrill of stalking, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike at his prey. They were unaware, of course, that he was coming and, usually, this could take part of the thrill of the chase away. But not on this occasion; this was just one more step in a much larger plan, a much bigger chase. That thrill was more than adequate to make up for the fact that today was a relatively easy strike. Plus Cassius knew it would be more difficult from now on. They would find out soon about his first kills, the deaths of such important pieces of such a large puzzle could not go unnoticed for much longer. There were systems to ensure that they were monitored and that events such as the one he had instigated were discovered sooner rather than later. Discovery of what he had done was imminent, he could feel it in the same way as you know when a stranger is watching you from the darkness. He was not worried, he had left no evidence. Haven may soon find out that someone was attacking and chipping away at one of their biggest secrets but they would not know who it was, they would be chasing their tails as they always were, one step behind those that would see them destroyed.

His usually emotionless expression twisted for a moment as he allowed himself a smile. Cassius had his own reasons to hate Haven. Elliot hated Elsa and Marcus Shaw, Marcus had upset Vincent and Elliot didn't like Vincent upset. Elsa had killed Vincent and Elliot definitely didn't like Vincent dead. Elliot was important to Cassius, he had taken Cassius in when his own creator had abandoned him. Every vampire has a close connection to the one that made them and Cassius' creator had been a magnificent vampire. She was what vampires were made to be, powerful, cruel and vicious. But she had never wanted him, no matter how much he adored her and she had turned her back not only on him but on what she was meant to be. Eventually, she had joined Haven in the ultimate insult to her kind. Despite the fact that powerful, old vampires like Elliot Holt do not like other vampires cast offs, Elliot saw Cassius' potential and took him in when he was at his most lost, treating him as if he had turned him himself. Cassius was full of gratitude towards Elliot for that and would do whatever Elliot asked of him in return. He was full of hatred towards Haven for taking his maker and turning her into such a weak, pathetic version of what she should be; and he was full of something beyond the boundaries of hatred towards his maker for turning her back on him so long ago.

Cassius checked himself, his grip on the steering wheel had tightened and he consciously relaxed it again. He could not allow himself to feel these powerful emotions. Emotion clouded judgment and people whose judgement was clouded could make mistakes. Cassius could not afford to make mistakes if he was to succeed in the task that Elliot had set him. He had another house to find, another family to question and when he was done and he'd drank them dry and bathed in their blood, he would be another step closer to giving Elliot exactly what he had asked for.