"Melissa?" Timothy says a little groggily as he wakes up from her moving.

"Timothy, where is that bitch that took so much away from me? Send Travis in while I get ready to deal with her." Melissa says so angry and pissed that Timothy feels terrified of his wife for the first time ever. He's always known that she could be devastating should she ever wish to be, but for the most part, Melissa is peaceful, a peace maker and doesn't like violence. That's why Travis is her full time security guard. Travis is the best trained of all the younger vampires, even better than many of those that have been vampires for centuries. There aren't many in the seethe or even outside it that would be able to beat him in a fair fight. Although, vampires don't fight fair. 

So Timothy has been having him trained in dirty fighting. Travis took right to it, like a duck to water and he thinks that soon Travis will equal him in fighting prowess. He thinks that Cliff has been teaching him things as well. If so, Travis will likely become nearly unbeatable in his fighting abilities.

"Timothy said that you wanted to see me?" Travis is more than a little changed since the death of his baby and the coma of his love. He's more reserved, angrier and doesn't have much laughter or even smiles any more. Only the children can take the anger away for any length of time.

Melissa feeds deeply of his pain and anger. The emotions are like a drug to her system and give her a great deal of strength. She knows that like a drug she'll pay a price for taking in so many negative emotions, but for now, she needs it.

"Yes, Travis, we are going down to the cells and have some fun with the bitch that took so much from us. I need you to be the muscle for me, are you willing?" Melissa goes to him and gives him a hug.

He relaxes at her words and even more as she hugs him. "You are willing to let me participate in her punishment? Timothy hasn't allowed me down there at all. He was and is afraid that I'll kill her out of hand for what she did."

"You will be doing the punishing, but at my direction. Can you handle following my directions and not going off on  your own?" Melissa asks looking up at Travis.

Travis smiles a very nasty smile. It is a very alien smile for him, she's seen something like that on Cliff and Timothy both, but never on any of her children. It makes her sad that one of her children has so much pain that the darkness has taken hold on them. But then again, she feels the darkness inside her as well. And for this time, for this punishment she embraces the darkness. She needs it to make the punishment worthy of the deed.

As far as she is concerned, her step mother got off lightly even with all Cliff did to her. She's going to talk to him about how he did some of the things she saw in her memory. She is very interested in learning how to manipulate things like that.

Travis brings her out of her thoughts by ushering her out of the room. 

Melissa shudders as they enter the cell area. The memories this place bring aren't the happiest of her life, or even vampire life. As they stop in front of the cell that the female is being held in Melissa shakes her head and smirks. Of course they placed her in the same cell she was in years earlier just after her turn.

The first thing she does is go through the females memories and finds all the information that she wanted. She verified what Tad found and then got even more. The female was promised money, a lot of it. She took the job because she not only needed the money but she wanted to make a name for herself in the business. She wants to be a professional assassin.

Melissa sneers at the female. 

The female stares at her in shock. "It isn't possible. You are dead. You should be dead."

"Please, I know that my husband and brothers already told you that we aren't human. All you did was manage to kill my son and place me in a coma for two months." Her calm tone as she walks closer to the female terrifies the female far more than anything.

"Now, Karen, you really aren't all that smart for someone that wants to be an assassin. You didn't even think about the video cameras in the restaurant. You have to be  aware of things like that if you want to get away with murder. Especially the murder of a high profile person like me."

Melissa puts her hand under the female and she jerks away in reflex. At least she tries to jerk away but Melissa has her chin in a tight grip. Using nothing more than the chin hold she has, she raises the female up.

"Now, Karen, you and I have a great deal to do this day. This gentleman is Travis, and he was the father of the child you killed, my son."

With this Karen is confused, "He's the father, but I thought Timothy McGavity was your husband? I don't see him allowing any one else to touch you."

"Well, you see, Karen, our relationship is a bit different. Even among vampires it's a bit different. We have a polyamorous relationship. Travis is lovers with not just me, but the others that came down when you were brought here. All except the person that brought you, that is. Cliff is like a father to me and we have no intentions of making it any other kind of relationship."

Melissa gives a little shudder at the thought. "You are lucky he only played with you a bit. What he did to Marissa, well, it likely gave the prison guards nightmares for weeks afterwards.

"What he did to my sister, well the less spoken about her the better." Melissa says, she doesn't even like to think of the memories of what Cliff did to her sister. They make her very nauseas just thinking about them.

Travis looks at her sharply, none of them had known that Sarah had been involved as well or that Cliff had done anything about it.

Melissa looks at Travis, "Cliff hadn't told you all? Oops, I guess he didn't want you all to know then. Don't say anything to Tad and TJ, especially TJ. He was the closest to that bitch."

"I don't think that will be true now, though. Especially if she had anything to do with the poisoning."

"Oh, she had something to do with it alright. It was Sarah that contacted Karen here, on behalf of Marissa. It was Sarah that gave Karen the poison and the photo of me, as the target of the poisoning. It was Sarah that paid the first half of the payment for the hit."

That's all it took for Travis to lose control and smash a fist into Karen's abdomen. "Travis!" Melissa calls out loud and sharply along with a mental command to stand down.

He does so reluctantly. Then he smiles as Melissa silently tells him what she wants done. He starts the work.

"Go tell Timothy I need him to come and heal this bitch. She has many, many more such sessions before her." Melissa says absently as she looks down at the pathetic human laying before her, trying to breathe and finding it difficult with the broken ribs Travis had given her. "Maybe next time don't hit her so hard in the ribs. We don't want to make it so that she can't breathe."

"Sorry, Melissa, I lost control a bit there." Travis says looking down in shame at failing her like that.

"What? Oh, no, Travis, love, I'm not upset, just trying to decide how best to proceed from here on. Now, if you would go and get Timothy, I really don't want her to die just yet." Melissa tells Travis, caressing his face to reassure him.

Smiling Travis leaves Melissa alone with Karen.

"When I finish with you, you will have a choice. A simple one actually, you will either bond yourself to me, willingly, to become a vampire at a later time, or you will be killed. Think about that as we have our little sessions and in between. After Timothy heals you, I will have food sent down to you. I would suggest you eat it all. You will need all the strength you can get. I will not let you die before I'm finished punishing you, so you will be forced fed if you don't eat. And I will know if you eat or not." Melissa tells the horrified female as she looks up at Melissa.

"You want me to bond to you and become a vampire? Are you crazy?" Karen painfully gasps out as she lies on the floor.

Timothy hears what the prisoner says to his wife. He looks to her and she looks at him with a smile on her face, so he knows that it's true and he's intrigued by why she would want her would be killer to be bound to her and made into a vampire.

Timothy goes to Karen and gives her his blood. Karen needs it, not for the pain, since she knows that won't leave, but so she can breathe. Once the blood works she sighs in relief. She is a bit amazed that the pain was taken as well.

"My gift to you, this time. Enjoy it while it lasts." Melissa says more than a little maliciously. At least Timothy can feel it, but Melissa hides it well from the human.

Once they are out of earshot, "You are going to bind her and make her a vampire?"

Melissa smiles sadistically. "Yeah, I think I will, but only if you are alright with it."

"She is yours to punish as you see fit, Melissa, but I don't understand why you would want to."

"I'm going to have her trained in her chosen profession. By the time I and Travis are done, she will be immune to torture. Then I'll have Travis teach her how to kill and fight properly. Once all is said and done she will be the finest assassin to be created."

Timothy isn't sure that he trusts the glinting sparkle in Melissa's eyes as she tells him that.

"Then what, Melissa?"

"Then I will let her earn her way through her chosen profession. But she'll have to be a vampire to take on her vampire targets."

Timothy stops and makes sure that Melissa stops too. "You are making a vampire assassin to kill vampires?"

Melissa smiles and gently pats Timothy's cheek. "No, I'm making a vampire assassin to kill your enemies without starting a war."

Timothy sits stunned at her revelation and so Melissa walks several steps ahead of him before he races to her side.

"It's been tried before and failed."

Melissa shrugs, "Assassins live and die. The good ones live, the not so good ones die. If she doesn't live then oh, well. She won't be wearing a mark, we can't have anything leading her back to us. That would defeat the purpose of her being an assassin."

Timothy, once more stunned just stares after her as she goes in search of her children.