What We Do In the Shadows: "Jen..."

What We Do in The Shadows: "Jen..." Part LII...

What We Do In The Shadows: "Jen..."

Summary: There are unexpected consequences when Laszlo seeks a new human familiar...

Part LII...

"So then..." Nadja, head cocked, fond tone as she sat in chair by her coffin... "I got my grandmother to a fine home and dumped Grandfather's foul drunken body into the Danube. It was a great pleasure to tell her she would never be beaten again, though it was not long before my mother convinced her I'd been taken by, turned to, Evil and she refused to have more to do with me. I should have killed Mother, that witch...But, it would have hurt Grandmother."

Slight chuckle... "Of course though Grandmother would have no more to do with me and cursed me, surrounded that fine merchant's house with a holy circle to keep me away...I think it was with that Host thing we used the other night...By the way, did you return it to the church...?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ginny, on low settee by her, nods "Before I went home..."

"Good...We would not want to do sacrilege beyond what was necessary...So, as I was saying...Grandmother rejected me but she kept the house and didn't refuse the human slaves...The owner and his wife...I'd bestowed on her. A practical woman, though the wife told me when I summoned her to see how Grandmother was faring, that she was claiming to stay to protect their souls. Please, those people had no souls long before I enthralled them. Cruel and arrogant to the core, they were far better off after I took them... The husband had asked the local militia chief...Paid him off to so...To drive us out. Not too particular about how or if we Gypsies survived the driving out. His attitude took a major change...Probably to his soul's benefit, though who knows or cares..." smile.

"What, child?" to Ginny's downcast look...

"I don't think you'd've liked me much before..." sad look. "I didn't drive off any Gypsies but..."

"Well, you did seem a bit...What is word today? Hard in the nose? Hard-nosed? But I think you were just trying to survive in the business world. You were employing many women and training them to be successful, that is good." Nadja, reassuringly.

"I suppose you think I was greedy..." sigh. "And even if Roy was the one who broke the law to begin with...I did kinda go along with it, at first...Till I saw where we were headed."

"Well...You made the decision to stop. That is first step. Did you ever see the 'Schindler's List'? Laszlo and I saw it at the cinema, years ago. Oh, that Liam Neeson..." grin.

"He is cute." Ginny smiled.

"Very rugged looking, not pretty boy...Much like my Laszlo..." fond nod. "Well, Mr. Schindler was not a nice man till he saw true Evil being done. But then he made choice, like you. That is what matters, Virginia. You did the right thing, in the end."

"Well, it was partly to save my business...But I did think of my girls and the guys...My other girls, in the office..."

"Then you made moral choice. The right one. Good for you." pat of head, eyeing her watch. "Say, it's eleven-thirty, don't you have work at your office?"

"Oh, Martha can handle the office...And Jen anything in the field...Unless Mr. Devious calls, I think it's fine for me to stay today, if I may, Mistress?" fond pleading look up.

" 'Mr.' Prick Devious...." frown. "You think he will call?"

"I don't know..." shrug. "He said he would if he could...And if he does plan to come in, I want to be there." firmly.

"Ginny? You are not to confront him. Leave him to us." Nadja, sternly. "That is my direct order, little one. I would not have you killed or turned, you have too much to live for."