Memento Mori

[Latin For Dragula]

((Vahka Basayev Continued From A Failure Played In Stereo))

It had to be just right. He had to set the mood.

He had to find the place where he'd killed Vincent, and the camera that caught it all. Probably the one that tipped the boss off to his little scuffle with Dougie. It watched him as he sat down in front of the tree, and slowly pulled the supplies he'd stolen from the daycare out of his bag. There'd been bodies and bags all over the damn place, but he didn't care much for scavenging at this point. He was pretty well set for food and weapons. What he needed was a pencil and a stack of paper.

The wood pressed against his skin as he clutched his prize tight and sketched slowly, holding the stack in his lap just a short ways away from Vince's corpse. Time passed as he focused on the lines, pushing the image he'd been nursing from his mind on to the page. As the picture came together, he let out a short chuckle and glanced towards the camera.

"Hey Ronnie. You watchin'? You better damn well be. Bustin' my ass is pain enough without havin' to worry if my biggest fan's in m' corner."

He tilted the stack to let the blinking, red eye of the camera get a better look at it. "Always on the job, boss. Even out here. I got a whole set of these ideas for ya when I get back home. This might be my favorite, though."

Vahka held the rough sketch up for the camera. It was far from finished, but the concept was clear. It depicted a long-haired boy in a gothic dress, soaring away from a balcony towards the beginning of a sun, with just the barest skeleton of a pair of wings bursting from his shoulder blades. "I got somethin' real special planned for all of 'em, Ronnie," Vahka stated towards the camera. "Sunshine here, Birdie, Marcus, even Vince. 'specially Vince." The snow crackled under his feet as he rose and put his materials back in the bag. A brief shower of white dust fell back to the ground as he wiped his cloak off and shouldered his sword and bag once more.

"Stay tuned."

((Vahka Basayev continued in Up, M'lady-Pack Your Things, This Place Is Not Your Home))