The Pariah

"Feel like making a deal with the devil?" ---The Vampire Diaries

Why did Barbatos want to talk to her? She was good at what she was doing. Sure, Griffin didn't think it was good enough, but quality over quantity. Was he going to beat her instead of Griffin today? She swallowed nervously, she was sure Barabtos had to hit hard. Griffin had to learn his technique from somewhere.

"Griffin," Barbatos said smoothly to his middle son. "Leave us." He said looking him directly in the eyes with a cool expression.

"Father," Griffin started to interject but then Barbatos' eyes narrowed into hard slits as if daring him to speak. Griffin swallowed and looked down, that was the first time Mia had ever seen Griffin in her shoes. "Yes Father."

Mia turned and watched Barbatos as Griffin walked to the double doors and opened them before walking out. She watched as he tucked his black tie down, she felt as if she was in the presence of President Allure himself. She could feel the power thrumming off of the man. She could feel the danger. It was as if she was being locked in a cage with a tiger and she was nothing but a mouse with nowhere to hide.

Barbatos' green eyes were calculated but he had put a smile on his face. It was almost as if he was trying to put her at ease, he wanted her to let her guard down. Well, that was tough for him, she wasn't going to let him in. If there was something Mia was good at, it was shutting people out. She had been doing that for her whole life.

"Hello Mia," Barbatos greeted her as he walked over to the chair behind the window. "Won't you come and sit with me?"
   
Mia knew this wasn't a request, so she let her feet guide her over. As she got closer to the table she could see an old chess set had been set up. Mia liked chess. She had played it a lot at school when she could. Mrs. Lang also would play with her if she was having a good day. She had always been exceptionally good at it, because she knew how to watch for certain patterns of behavior. It only took her a little while to observe and then she could logically predict what a person was going to do next.

Mia sat herself down in the chair looking out the window. She let her feet touch the floor and kept them there. She sat up straight, she kept her hands folded in her lap as she stared at the chess board. She was on the side of white pieces, white always went first. She wondered who was sitting there before her. She wondered whose hands had touched the marble pieces and what they did with them. Did they win? Did they lose? Was that going to affect how Barabtos played if he was the one who had won or lost before? Mia's mind was in a constant swirling motion, and no question was truly answered.

"How about a game?" Barbatos asked her as he sat down in the chair across from her. Mia glanced up at him. "What? Do you not like games? From what I've heard, you are quite the chess player."

Mia frowned softly, what did he want from her? It was one thing to want her to listen to mind numbing tapes, it was another to want to play a game of chess with her. Also, how did he know she liked chess? It wasn't in her file. The only time she had played chess here was with Cole. She shook her head at the thought of the boy who was so fond of numbers feeding Barbatos information. He just wouldn't do that. Also, Cole had no interest in people. He had an interest in patterns of things.

Mia had an interest in the patterns of people. It's why they got along. It's why their games of chess always ended up different. She tried to analyze the patterns of his mind while he tried to use what he knew about the probability of chess to outsmart her. Cole would be the last person to say anything. It was probably Argo, Argo could never shut up. It probably just slipped.

She breathed in, she knew she needed to choose her words carefully, because she wasn't sure how he would react. "I have not been in much of a playing mood." Mia said glancing back down at the pieces. "It's been hard...being separated from my brother."