VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE

ASYLUM

Liz could still hear the wail of police sirens from the secret basement underneath the apartment building that served as Beckett's haven in Los Angeles. She wondered what they could still be up to. After the fiasco in the basketball court, Beckett had taken the hooded man and herself into the building-which was, much to Liz's surprise, completely empty- and into this basement which was only accessible via a room on the base floor. She imagined it must have been embarrassing for him, having to carry the two of them like rucksacks. Fortunately he was able to get them out of sight before the police re-enforcements arrived at the scene. After an agonizingly-and suspiciously-long search, in which they all had to stay perfectly silent, they left the building, though they were still in the premises.

She turned around to face Beckett, who was busy placing the hooded man on one of the creaky beds. The whole place was sparsely decorated; nothing but two old-looking beds, a large, black coffin in the middle of the room and a desk piled with books and papers on the corner adjacent to the staircase that led to the basement. She wanted to ask him a lot of things- what he was doing here. Whether he knew the guy in the hood, what had happened to the skinheads. Instead, all that could come out of her mouth was "So, those guys... the police, I mean. What took them so long upstairs?"

Beckett chuckled, then, still not facing Elizabeth, responded "I don't know. It could be the surprise I left for them upstairs."

She didn't quite understand at first. Then she remembered that the skinheads had gone into the house, and that Beckett turned into a wolf. "You- you mean- you killed them?"

He didn't respond. Liz suddenly staggered, clutching the bandage that had served to mitigate the enormous blood loss from her gut. She noticed that the wound was not healing. "You're fortunate to still be able to stand." Beckett said, walking towards the staircase. "It will take a while for a wound like that to heal though. I personally recommend plenty of rest and feeding" he smirked at Liz's general direction "in any order of your choosing, of course." With that he gestured towards the staircase saying "You can come out now."

At first Liz wondered who he was talking to. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small shape emerge from underneath the staircase; a girl who looked like she couldn't be more than twelve years old. She wore a black sweater with a dark green and white-layered skirt complete with grey stockings and black shoes. The most striking aspect of her, however, was her face. Liz could not ascertain whether her face was actually that colour from that distance, but in any case, her face was a deathly white. Her large, amber eyes, painfully black lipstick and black, purple-tinted hair that framed her face helped to accentuate her odd skin colour.

As soon as she stepped out of her hiding place she cast a baleful glare at Liz. "Who's she?" She asked with her fittingly tiny voice. Before Liz could respond Beckett did it for her. "Her name is Elizabeth, and she will be staying with us for the day." She seemed to have ignored him, instead looking hastily around the room. As soon as she cast her eyes on the hooded man, her facial expression shifted from apathy to horror as she let out a short gasp and rushed to his side. She then removed the hood, revealing his rather ordinary face and brown hair, cut open her wrist-which was the same colour as her face-and directed it towards his mouth.

"Who are those?" Liz asked Beckett. "Her name is Irene. The boy's name is John." He cast a distant look at the two. "They're both Kindred. The boy's a Gangrel. I am not yet sure what clan Irene is, though I don't believe she's a Caitiff."

"Caitiff? What's a Caitiff?" Liz implored. Before Beckett could answer, however, Irene cut in. "Did you do this to him?" She directed at Liz, angrily. She stayed silent, unsure of what to say. In her defence, he was the one who attacked her. She merely responded in self-defence. Irene did not give her the chance to defend herself, though, as she got up with a flourish and admonished Beckett. "Who is this lady and why is she here?"