"Murder" she said (Gwen, Carly, Open)

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

The limousine not being at the assigned spot on the tarmac should have been a clear sign of events about to unfold. They were late. In england it would have been unforgivable to not call and report a delay. But this was Italy, not England. A leisure trip to see her Grandmother. She was of the mind that 'someone' knew. Did anyone here even have her number? Everyone makes mistakes, and delays are sometimes unavoidable once in a while, or at least that was what she told herself when she looked at out the portal of the private Mattias jet. The jet taxied to a stop and idled several minutes before the pilot announced that they were being instructed to taxi away from the terminal due to a landing ledger mix-up. One mistake was unusual but possible. Two however....

Gwendolyn D. Mattias closed the cover of her kindle fire HD and with a sigh, glanced over at her bodyguard who also doubled as her guardian since Gwen was still considered a child at the age of 12. Her brown eyes showed concern at the unexpected delay and detour. She reached up a hand and pushed her mid-back length honey brown hair hair behind her ear before reaching over with her left hand to wake her. “Carmela” She whispered, giving the older woman with the blond hair in a tight bun a nudge. “Something is not right. The limo is late and we have been detoured”.
The womans hazel eyes opened and she shifted in her pantsuit to glance at her watch and then out her window to see the plane moving away from the terminal before frowning.

Carmela pulled out her phone, probably looking for a missed call or text message. “Gwen. Has anyone contacted you?” She asked hitting a speed dial number and tapping her blue tooth earpieces "Just the pilot saying we were moving away from the terminal” She said shaking her head 'no'. The seasoned long time Mattias employee was a trusted family friend so she was permitted to speak casually when not in the public eye. Her hand hit the release button to her seatbelt and she turned her seat and leaned over Gwen to look out the portal. She pressed her face to the glass looking in the direction of the front of the jet. She must have seen something she didn't like because Gwen saw the concern etched into her facial features as she backed away from the glass. Her brows slowly came together and her eyes narrowed, if only briefly. “Whats going on?” Gwen asked becoming alarmed. “Stay calm. It looks like we are about to be detained.” She said siting on the edge of her seat while tapping on her iphone. “My phone is not working. Try yours.” She said her eyes locking on to Gwen's. “Call someone. Anyone.”

Gwen reached up to her ear-piece and pressed the button to activate her bluetooth. She almost said 'Yukki', having been thinking about her boyfriend during the flight. She happened to glance out the portal next to her and noticed police and security vehicles converging on the Jet. “Emergency” She said instead, and the pre programed voice command should have triggered a connection to a hot-line.
Her head turned and her eyes locked on Carmela's when the call failed and she shook her head 'no'

Carmela's lips pressed into into a line and rose to her feet. “I have no reason to believe that they are not real law enforcement. Stay in your seat. You're just a little girl on her way to visit family. Don't give them any reason to think otherwise or they may get rough.” She said pulling out her pistol. She disengaged the safety and racked the slide to chamber a round before re-holstering. She looked down at Gwendolyn. “Have your passport and other documents ready. Cooperate fully unless I say otherwise no matter what they do or say. I'm sure this is some sort of mistake.” She said as she walked away towards the front of the plane and the exits.

Gwen sighed more in frustration than of worry. She reached for her bag wondering what the hell could have caused such an over-reaction. She reached in her bag for her passport and clucked her tung when it was not where she remembered putting it. Opening her purse wide, she looked over its contents. Things became very clear. Her passport was missing along with the special permits for her pistol and rights to carry same. She knew then and there that today was going to be a very bad day. She opened her mouth to call out to Carmela, but movement outside the window caught her eye. She saw a wheeled staircase was up against the portal and a line of heavily armed men in uniforms were waiting to gain entry. A half dozen ways she could have handled the situation flashed through her mind. None of which ended well for her or Carmela. She slung her purse over her shoulder and folded her hands on her lap. She'd have to do it Carmela's way and hope for the best.

The rest was a blur that would forever be etched into her memories. The door was forced open before Carmela reached for the handle. The door imploded from the precision explosives that were placed and detonated to gain entry. Poor Carmela never stood a chance. She was in the process of shifting the lever to open the door. All they had to do was give her a few more seconds. Thats all it would have taken to prevent her injuries. Gwendolyn couldn't even remember them giving a warning or order to open the door. She pressed her eyelids shut at the concussion of the blast and when her eyes reopened Carmela was pushing the door that had slammed her against the opposite wall away. She staggered, blood at her lips, nose, and ear. She reached for her gun, but they rushed her and took her down hard. She had who knows what injuries to her body and they just slammed her to the rug and wrenched her hands behind her back as they shouted at her to get down.

Gwen just watched. She wasn't frozen in fear or anything, Just shocked at the brutality. Men rushed into the plane. Just a squad of four. The other two were on Carmela even as she tried to demand to see a warrant. Two stopped the row before Gwen and ordered her to put her hands in the air. The flashlights on their semi-auto riffles blinding her to what they looked like. Red lasers dots danced on her chest and forehead. The other two rushed past on their way to the back of the jet in search of any other passengers. The scream of the stewardess in the back was short as they took her down as well.

Gwen could hear Carmela shouting from the floor. Her hands bound behind her back. Her face was turned towards Gwen and Gwen's eyes shifted to look between the men and could see the pain etched there. She was yelling as best she could with a man's knee on her back, telling the men that this was a mistake. That Gwen was just a child. To put the guns down before they hurt her. Gwen's eyes shifted to the men who were just shadows in the bright tactical lights. Her hands slowly raised, even as the lost shell-shocked looked solidified into something else. She was so angry. She wanted to hurt those idiots. What right did they have to do this?. She reviewed her options again and cursed under her breath. There was nothing to do now. So she slowly raised her arms. She kept her expression blank, yet there was fire in her eyes.

Carmela's pleas might have worked if the pistol was not discovered in Gwendolyn's purse. Carmela again tried to help by insisting that is was hers when no permits were found with it, but it fell on deaf ears. The word “Terrorists” was used amongst many less savory and more colorful words more than a few times to great protests from Carmela. After which they were ordered to say nothing more or be gagged. They hauled Carmela up to her feet, even as she yelped in pain for her legs would not support her. Gwen could only apologize as she was walked past on her way out of the jet. A very large man with bulging muscles had an iron grip on her shoulder.

Just before the last step down the staircase Gwen tripped. The man's grip on her shoulder tightened painfully as he kept Gwen from falling face first into the pavement. This cause him to lurch forward. There was a gun report and Gwen felt the grip release. She turned to see the man's chest had exploded from being pierced by a high powered rifle round. Whether it was meant for her, or him, she would never find out. The man was dead on his feet and keeled over onto Gwen who was balled over by the sheer size and weight of the man. Training and instinct told Gwen to grab the man's rifle so she could defend herself against the sniper. She used her enhanced strength to shift the man off her. She was covered in the man's blood. Her capri pants an knit top looking like they were props for a zombie horror flick somewhere. As she rolled over onto her hands and knees and reached for the riffle that landed just a few feet from her, she heard Carmela scream for her not to to, but it was too late. The simple act of reaching sealed her fate. Men yelled around her. The but of a rifle impacted the back of her head and the world went black.

Gwendolyn grimaced for the umpteenth time at the stale chocolate doughnut and paper cup of cheap vending machine coffee in front of her. She was starving. It was nearly 24 hours since her last meal, and being a werewolf, She needed to eat more often and greater quantities than a human. 'Really?' she thought with a sigh. “I'd rather starve” she mumbled to herself. She hated coffee. Only her grandmother's special recipe with the special beans and ingredients was acceptable. Anything else was just too bitter. Especially the cheap filler filled junk made from robusto beans. It was bitter to humans. To a lycan it was impossible. Then there was what Leonardo mentioned about coffee stunning growth. She was already behind on the growth chart. She'd sworn off coffee since then.

The chocolate was also out of the question. It would go right through her without the enzime supplement she needed to take. Her purse and belongings had not been returned to her. Would they confiscate her other medications? What would happen to her if she started to change again.... Gwen shook her head at that line of thinking and banished it from her thoughts. Worrying about things beyond her control would not help her any. She had to concentrate on the here and now.

She would not touch anything they brought her. Not unless someone trusted provided her meal. And not until it was something she wouldn't have to choke down. She glanced around the room. Four walls painted white to look like sheet rock. The stench of metal let her know they were really steel. There was a single door with a small window in the wall directly in front of her. To her right was a a wall with a large wide mirror. It was undoubtedly a two way glass and an inch thick. Unseen individuals most likely watched her every gesture and movement. She stuck her tung out at the mirror and grinned before turning her gaze on the furniture in front of her. The table before her was of a single piece design. Plain and of welded metal. Securely bolted to the floor. There were two cheap plastic chairs. One of which she occupied and the other on the opposite side of the table. It was all very logical. There was nothing a prisoner could use as a weapon. Nothing to use to kill oneself if one were to contemplate suicide.

The other chair was the one that worried her. Who else would they send to interrogate her? From the moment she'd regained consciousness there was person after person. All trying to get a confession out of her. She was exhausted, but that was the purpose to the repeated questioning. To ware her down and extract the truth. Like that would ever work on a Mattias. She could do this all day, and twice on sunday. They were wasting their time. Not just because it was pointless, but because she was telling the truth. The only thing she'd kept from them is the fact that she was not human. She was not a terrorist. She was who she said she was. Just a child on her way to see her grandmother. Her weapon was legally owned and registered. They asked about the other male passenger on the ledger that was not on the plane, Leon. She told them he was called away on business at the last moment. Also the truth. They wanted to contact her parents. This was where she would not budge. She would not suffer the humiliation of having her father or brothers come to her rescue. She insisted that by law, Carmella was her guardian on this trip and that her family was not to be contacted unless her guardian agreed. Carmela would do as she was instructed by Gwendolyn, so their hands were tied.


The door opened and Gwen folded her hands on her lap, her gaze on the now cold cup of coffee and pastry before her.

[Carly Evans]

Carly had been none too pleased when she had received a call that evening on her supposed time off. It was the dead of night for starters and one of the few moments she was actually sleeping which only made her all the more irritable. At first, Carly had thought that the sound of the telephone ringing was a bird or some other obnoxious beast that would go away given time and had tried to ignore the sound. When the sound didn't stop after a few moments, Carly finally registered that the phone was ringing and answered it just before it went to voice-mail. Had she known that she was going to be called in that day, Carly would have never taken the call in the first place. Her cell phone had been turned off to avoid such a thing but Carly had neglected to disconnect the phone lines in case anybody else desired to reach her, or Collin for that matter.

As drowsy and disoriented Carly had been initially upon answering the phone, it didn't take long before she was fighting the urge to throw the blasted thing across the room. This was supposed to be her vacation, she had been on call for weeks and now...to say the vampiress was angry was putting it mildly. If her superior had been in the room at that moment, there was no doubt in Carly's mind that she would be fighting the urge to strangle him right then and there. Never mind that she had sworn never to kill, in that moment she was severely tempted to go back on her own vow. After several minutes of arguing about it and pointing out several times that this was supposed to be her vacation, one very much overdue, Carly finally acquiesced in exchange for a promise that she would have time off after this investigation.

After finally managing to extract the promise out of him, Carly practically slammed the phone back in its cradle. Ugh...what were all the people at the precinct doing that they needed her there to hold their hands for every little thing. It was like every last one of them were incompetent moronic idiots and she was clearly the only one that could get anything accomplished. All the same, Carly hadn't said exactly when she'd be heading down to the precinct and was going to take her own sweet time in getting there. They way she saw it, they owed her and considering they had called her in on her time off, Carly wasn't about to rush off to the station. It would just mean being in a room full of a bunch of moronic babies rather than spending time with her fiance.

Given the choice, it was rather obvious what she would prefer to be doing, especially considering it had only been a few days since Collin had proposed. Considering she was doing her superior a favor, surely they wouldn't be too mad if she wasn't there immediately. Climbing back into bed, Carly snuggled up against Collin just as she had been doing moments before the bothersome phone had awoken her. Just because she had to cut her time short didn't mean that she had to leave right this instant. At the very least she could try and go back to sleep in her fiance's arms and enjoy the knowledge that every minute she spent here was making the detectives down at the precinct sweat that much more.

Hours later, Carly had finally arrived at the precinct and immediately asked for the details on the case. Moments later she was given the file and briefed on what had happened thus far before she was ushered into the opposite side of the two way mirror. The sight of the young girl in the interrogation room was unexpected but then again perhaps that was the entire reason she had been called in. Carly excelled at the unexpected or unthinkable and it was this edge that set her apart from the rest of the detectives. Still...there was something a bit off about the girl, Gwen according to the other detectives, in the room... It might be just her imagination but Carly could've sworn she smelled something dog-like coming from the room, the two-way mirror doing nothing to stop the scent from reaching the vampiress. Considering it was still evening, Carly knew that her senses were at their peek but that didn't mean that she could be mistaking a girl for some type of dog. Unless...the girl wasn't human at all...it made sense and was the only logical explanation as to why she was smelling dog when none of the police dogs were in the building as far as she knew.

After several attempts at trying, and failing to get a confession out of the girl, Carly was starting to get fed up. Clearly nobody here would recognize an innocent person if they walked up and bit them in the hindquarters. It had simply been too easy to find evidence to incriminate her...almost as if someone was trying to frame her. This was only a theory however but if Carly could get time alone with this Gwen then perhaps she could figure out something that could help. One thing was for sure, they were getting nowhere fast if they couldn't get this girl to cooperate. After yet another hour of useless questions, Carly had finally gotten fed up and decided to take matters into her own hands but not before slapping one especially idiotic detective and demanding a hamburger just for that smart aleck comment. The officer complied, subdued by the force of Carly's words and how especially cranky she seemed tonight.

A few moments later, Carly entered the interrogation room, hamburger and fries in hand before sitting across from the girl and putting her feet on the table as if this was just an ordinary day. Her methods might have seemed unusual at best, especially after considering the purely professional detectives that had come in here asking useless questions that Carly knew would get them nowhere. All but throwing the bag on the table in front of her, Carly smiled at Gwen and gestured to the bag before seemingly materializing a couple cans of soda from under the table.

Sliding one to the girl, Carly opened her own strawberry soda and took a sip from the can,"Go ahead and eat hun', ya must be starving by now,"she said in a good-natured tone before taking another sip of her soda. No doubt Carly would be sick later but for now, the strawberry flavor, and scent of the soda was too delicious to pass up. "Look, I don't wanna be here anymore than you do and I personally apologize for any questions that these idiots have made you answer. They thought they were doing their job by bringing a dangerous 'terrorist' in for questioning but you and I both know that they're morons and are just blowing hot air. Frankly, it's been way too easy to find evidence against you and my money's on the fact they're trying to frame you."Carly explained, smirking slightly at the possible reactions her words would have on the other detectives before taking another sip of her soda, "First thing's first, we don't want ya starving so eat up. My questions can wait a little while. I'm Carly by the way,"she continued before falling silent and waiting for whatever response Gwen would have.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

The heavy thud of the door's magnetic locking mechanism releasing almost made her cringe. After all the ugly, mostly overweight and foul mouthed men she'd been interrogated by... Most of which who's attempts to gain information was laughable at best. Gwen was disgusted. Not to mention the horrendous bad breath one had that was probably the real reason regular humans caved to their questions. They picked the perfect person to be the “bad cop” in good cop\bad cop thing. Did he have to get so 'in your face?' And what's with the spittle bath? A warped attempt at Chinese water torture? Yuck! Washing her face in the ladies room only marginally helped. She 'so' needed a bath.

The door swung open and Gwendolyn cast her eyes down to focus on the prettified donut and cup of imitation coffee flavor substituted beverage before her. Gwen stole a quick glance at the person who entered the room and had to fight off the urge to do a double take as she re-focused on the items before her. It was a really pretty girl. No, she was law enforcement. She had to be a woman?... but she looked like a teenager. What, 16?.. 17?.. Whoever she was it was a welcome change from the last 16 hours. Gwen studied the image her photographic memory had taken of the girl as she walked in and made her way to the chair on the opposite side of the table from her. She had a kind face and uniquely beautiful eyes, unlike the gruff faces that she'd had to endure before. The girl was not smiling thought. This suggested Gwen was in for yet more interrogation. The girl's outfit was casual and rather cute. Jeans, and red lacy shirt with matching tennis shoes. There was a brown paper bag in her hand, and Gwen wondered what was in it. The door was still closing behind the girl and the air was being drawn out into the corridor beyond so she could not use her nose for details. As the magnet activated and sealed the door closed, the chair before Gwen was pulled out and the girl sat. Shoes appeared before Gwen's eyes as the girl put them up on the table. Gwendolyn looked up at her and saw she'd leaned back in the chair and put her feet up on the table as if just relaxing. Gwen raised an eyebrow at the girl's unorthodox actions so far. This was an alien facial expression for Gwen. It was something Leon would do and she dismissed it as just something a “Mattias” did. The bag the girl had in her hand was tossed on the table and almost had Gwen jumping out of her seat to get away from the potentially dangerous object. The aroma of a gourmet burger and fries reached her just in time to stay her over reaction.

Gwen almost smiled when the girl flashed a smile that threatened to rival her own cuteness, if not for the scent that she picked up on a moment later that blocked out all others. 'Vampire' was the word that her mind screamed at her. Her lungs involuntarily spasmed forcing her to inhale sharply to take in more of the scent as if to be sure of what she smelled. Her breath caught and stopped as her mouth opened slightly into a surprised almost “oh” expression. Her mind flashed images of the dreaded day at the restaurant not too long ago where Gwen and her brother Leon were almost gunned down in a gangland classic “Hit”by a vampire hit-man. 'Or could it have been a woman?' she thought.

Fear threatened to rear its ugly head for when along with the vampire incense scent was the stench of gunpowder and metal. Her eyes flicked to where she knew the girl's concealed holstered weapon would be before Gwen simultaneously shut her eyes in a slow blink and squashed the fear. 'No!!' she shouted mentally at herself. She was done with that and anger replaced fear. She was a Mattias. She would cower to no one. Gwen's facial features showed determination for a split second before her eyes opened to look into the eyes of the girl with her brown ones. She kept a neutral expression while her mind raced through her options as she fought to keep her anger at bay. She must be of clear mind. Anger might cause her to make rash decisions whigh could lead to a mistake that she could ill afford.

The girl put her hands under the table and out of Gwen's view for a moment, and Gwen tensed not knowing what the vampire would do next. Her eyes darted to the two way mirror and back when she wondered if there was anyone actually watching. If Gwen had to defend herself it would become obvious, even to the ignorant humans, that she was not just a 12 year old child. She knew she would be hard pressed against the vampire. By her experience with her boyfriend's sister, she knew that the teen looking girl could well be hundreds of years old. Gwen was still young, and could not yet shift to her wolf form due to her medications and orders of her Alpha's. One was enough, but she had the ungodly misfortune of having been commanded not to change by two Alphas. It would be impossible for her to shift even to save her own life. If that wasn't bad enough, the damn vamp was armed while her own weapon was in the hands of the police.

Still She'd not make it easy. Gwen was really fast. She'd won the rare praise from all three of her brothers in her training sessions with them. Even her father had made the observation and his standards were the most stringent of all. Hopefully all she needed was time. She would fight to her last breath in hopes one of those idiots on the other side of the two way mirror was watching and would come to her rescue. Gwen settled on that strategy. Evade. Keep from getting hit with a bullet anywhere vital and rush the door as soon as she heard the thud of the magnet dis-engaging when someone came to stop the vampire.

The hidden hands re-appeared with two strawberry soda's and if it wasn't for her control, Gwen would have visibly slumped in relief. Her breath being let out slowly was the only outward sign of her relaxing. She should have looked surprised, for she had no idea where the soda's had come from. The girl's back pockets perhaps?.. Gwens expression was almost blank as her eyes followed a soda that was pushed in her direction. The Girl opened and sipped her own soda while Gwendolyn took the opportunity to glance at the detective's badge clipped to her belt. Somehow, and for reasons that Gwen still did not understand, the sight of the badge and the fact that the girl wore such a nice smile chased away the images of the hit. The scent of that vampire assassin was not what she smelled here in this room. That and she knew the assassin was taller and broad in the shoulders. A male.

Gwen took in the detective's silk smooth voice as she talked. At the mention of word “Starving” Gwen's stomach woke up and growled loudly in protest at being empty for so long. Especially since her nose reminded her that there was food in that bag on the table. Her enhanced sensed told that there was a genuine USDA approved Angus beef patty with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, and provolone cheese on a wheat bun with just a tad of mustard and ketchup sitting within arms reach. All that and a bag of fresh cut, not frozen, chips!. Even as she shook her head 'no', Gwen's stomach rumbled again and she looked away as her cheeks colored in embarrassment. Gwen had no idea where that burger came from or who'd handled it. She wished, just for a moment, that Carmela had brought it in, or was here to give her 'nod' of approval.

Gwen's eyes kept glancing at the bag with the heavenly aroma all throughout the detective's speech. Every word the girl poke continued the process of soothing her fears. If it wasn't for the fact that didn't know the girl before her, and that she was a vampire, Gwen would have laughed and added her own two cents about what she thought of those morons. They'd wasted more than a day questioning Gwendolyn, when they should have been out there looking for the real terrorists and killers. Gwen could have stopped this whole circus act if she'd chosen to. All she had to do was tell them she was done talking and wanted to contact her legal team. But as much as she wanted to get the hell out of that dreadful place, she knew that contacting her lawyers was the same as a call to Mitchel himself. Daddy would know within minutes of what had happened, and that's the last thing she wanted. Gwen wanted to do this on her own. Not that she had anything to prove to any of them. It had just become personal, is all.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined herself in an interrogation room. Even further from that that impossible thought was her in the criminal's seat. Gwendolyn put up with all of it in hopes of winning them over to her side so that she would have the help of the authorities in resolving the whole mess. She'd was close to giving up hope and was only half listening to what the girl was saying, when the words “my money's on the fact they're trying to frame you” made Gwen's eyes dart and lock on to the detectives. She rewound the conversation to analyze every detail the girl had spoken and how the words were phrased. The knowing smirk the girl gave her lent credit to the words and by then she'd relaxed enough that her expression showed she was hopeful. Gwen was so tired of the clowns. Was this detective really being truthful?, She asked herself. Or was this all just another game of smoke and mirrors. She knew the answer even as she thought this. Gwen knew little about vampires, but she knew a hell of allot about how to read a person. The only people she couldn't read was her brothers and her father who were as skilled at hiding their feelings and intentions as they were at reading them.

This detective had been totally honest, to the point of being flat out blunt. The girl believed what she was saying and believed Gwen was.... well... not innocent, so to speak, but that there was much more to the case than the others believed. She was looking at the evidence and clues with an open mind. Then after the girl paused to sip her soda, she finally gave Gwendolyn her name. And it didn't start with “Detective” or “Special Agent” or “Internal Investigations” or any of those other tittled the others were so quick to throw around in an attempt to intimidate her. Intimidate?. A Mattias?. Those clowns?.. Gwen could only giggle and shake her at herself mentally.

Though she didn't totally trust Carly due to her mistrust of Vampires, Gwen decided that it was in her best interest to go along with the best option she'd been presented with so far. At least Carly was a girl, like herself. And Carly already eased her fears and Gwen found she even liked her, in a way. It was the way she presented herself and spoke. As if Gwen was not just another case number. Like Gwen was a human being with feelings. A person. She reminded her of Yukki's sister.

'Finally! Someone with a brain!.' Gwen thought. Someone who would listen. Maybe even help.

Gwendolyn pushed her chair back and stood, took one step to the side and bent her knees with one foot forward to curtsy as she spoke. “It is indeed a pleasure, detective, to find one among you that is adept at her job” She said with a smile and all the mannerism of a Mattias. It was not a formal bow. Just a slow bob since she wasn't wearing a skirt or dress at the moment. She was dressed in blue denim jeans and a pink GUESS by marciano logo shirt. “I'm Gwendolyn. Just “Gwen” is fine.” Gwen sat back down and decided she no longer cared that Carmela was not there to give her approval. She couldn't smell anything unusual so she reached out and pulled the bag closer.
“And thank you, Carly. You have no idea how famished I am.” She said, her mouth watering even as she spoke. She waned to just wolf it down, but she took her time savoring each bite instead. “your co-workers were happy with just starving me. Like I'd ever touch that... stuff.” She said wrinkling her nose and gesturing to the coffee and donut with a fry before popping it into her mouth.

Gwen was just making small talk. She knew people were listening in the room beyond the 2 way mirror. She was sure Carly knew what Gwen was. Just as Gwen knew what Carly was. “Can you believe them?. Me? Like, a terrorist?” She giggled as she mocked, easing out of the 'Mattias' formality and into herself. Gwendolyn's patience had paid off and she glanced at the two way mirror and fought the urge to stick her tung out at them. She knew there were two behind that glass. Not that she could see them. But with her enhanced sight and the knowledge that if she focused 'past' the glass, and not at the reflection, she would see a faint outline. Gwen made out the silhouette of the two persons sitting there.

[Carly Evans]

The girl's reaction to her actions wasn't lost on Carly, in fact she rather enjoyed the surprised expression. In the few minutes Carly had spent watching this girl from the other room, it was obvious that no matter of browbeating or attempts at intimidation were going to get them anywhere. When she had thrown the paper bag on the table, Carly almost laughed at how it seemed the girl was about to jump, as if the food was some sort of bomb rigged to explode. What a ridiculous notion, like she would be so insane as to bring something that dangerous into a monitored room where she would no doubt kill everyone within spitting distance. Please, if Carly had gotten it into her head to kill someone it wouldn't be as quick and painless and that. Besides, killing was the one thing she had sworn to avoid if given the chance and thus far she had been successful. That wasn't about to change today and had Carly known that Gwen was wondering if she would harm her, Carly would surely have scoffed at the notion.

Carly's suspicions that there was something dog-like about the girl were only confirmed now that she was in the room with her. Her reaction to the paper bag, though minuscule and controlled was quite amusing as was the reaction to her 'magic trick' with the sodas. Something had happened to make this girl jumpy wherein she had been stubborn and annoyed at the previous detectives, even going so far as to sass them back. The slow exhale from Gwen was enough to let Carly know that whatever had made this girl tense up was gone now whatever it might have been. Nevertheless, she had a job to do and it would be much easier to work with this mystery dog-girl if she was comfortable. From the looks of it, and how long she had been in the room, the girl had to be hungry, a fact which was established by the loud growl that came from Gwen's stomach. Clearly the action had embarrassed the girl but Carly appeared unfazed at best and went on talking, making no mention of what had just occurred.

This only went to show how many imbeciles she worked with, this girl was a child for heavens sake. What on earth had possessed her superiors to hold the girl for this long with no lawyer, guardian, or even a decent meal Carly didn't have a clue. One thing was for sure, Carly was going to bang some heads together once she was done talking to the dog-girl. Now that she thought about it, perhaps this girl was a werewolf...it really was the only logical reason why Carly kept thinking that there was a dog in the room. Well, werewolf or not, Carly was sure of her own strength and believed she would be able to take the girl should the need arise. Judging from what she had learned however, there would be no need for violence and it would be in Carly's best interest to find the real culprit before her moronic co-workers got it into their minds to arrest more children because of a perceived threat.

By the time Carly had suggested that she believed Gwen was being framed, it was clear that she had the girl's attention. That or the girl was trying to impress her by not attacking the hamburger the instant she had tossed it on the table. Either way, it was evident that this werewolf girl was going to cooperate without anymore prompting from Carly or anyone else in the precinct. That was good enough for her, Carly wasn't interested in being friends with anyone right then, she simply wanted to solve this damn case so she could start a much needed vacation (that she had gotten her boss to write out and sign as proof the instant she had gotten there) with her fiance. Carly didn't once move when the girl stood up and simply waited to see what she would do before taking another sip of her soda. The curtsy was unexpected but it was certainly appreciated along with the compliment that followed which brought nothing short of a smug, confident look to Carly's features. Hell yeah she was good at her job! She had been what...a full two minutes in the room with the wolf-girl, Gwen, by her own admission, and had already gained her full cooperation. That was more than anyone else could say given the full day and some odd hours they had tried to interrogate the poor girl.

Finally, the girl sat back down and began to eat and Carly simply smiled and took another drink as she waited for Gwen to finish speaking. The bit about her co-workers trying to starve her earned a laugh from Carly as she shook her head,"They're idiots, the lot of 'em, but they have your back when it matters. Perhaps they thought you'd like chocolate but come on, that thing must've been sitting out for days as it is,"Carly quipped, taking another drink as she waited for Gwen to finish speaking. At least the food seemed to be making her relax even just a little, that would make it easier on both of them. Whatever had made Gwen tense up upon Carly's entrance was gone now thankfully and with that in mind the vampiress was hoping that she could wrap this up quickly. The next comment earned yet another laugh as Carly shook her head once again,"Like I said, imbeciles. The circumstances surrounding your particular situation probably had them thinking that initially but as I said, I'll save the questions until after you've finished eating,"she continued before relaxing in her chair a bit more and waiting for just that.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

Gwen smiled and nodded in agreement as she ate. Not just because she was thoroughly enjoying her meal, but for various reasons including that she'd succeeded in stoking Carly's ego. Gwen had no reason to believe the vampire was not being genuine in her approach to Gwen's situation. It was more difficult to read a vampire than a human, that much she learned in the first few minutes, but she was confident that she was reading the detective at least somewhat accurately. By giving Carly her full cooperation while the others had failed miserably, Gwen hopped to keep her on the same positive approach while Gwendolyn figured out how to “really” break the ice and get down to business. None of the others were able to get much more than just the bare minimum out of Gwen before now. Gwen had given nothing more than robo-answers. Much less the same statements over and over proclaiming her innocence and brushing aside their accusations. She wanted to laugh out loud at the thoughts of what their expressions must look like and what they must be saying behind that glass. This made her smile all the more radiant as she finished her meal and dabbed her lips with the napkin.

Contrary to her outer facade, Gwendolyn was near exhaustion. Not mentally. She'd never be broken that way. It was the physical toll of being deprived of food for so long, and the strain of stress. It would take several more of these “happy meals” over the course of the next few hours to get her back to 100%. She wanted out of that place. There was only so much she could tell the detective while being studied by those beyond the glass. She needed to get Carly alone somewhere more private. “How” was not difficult if she could get past the humiliation. The thought of just asking to go to the ladies room and feigning a fear or just plain insisting the detective accompany her inside flickered into existence. It was childish and actually kind of ridiculous. Yes, it would probably work, but really?... She filled it under “Plan B” and decided to just let things play out a bit longer. Options would present themselves. They always have before. At least to her. She wasn't lacking in the smarts department.

Gwendolyn had to be careful. She had to make sure she was on equal footing. Did the detective's co-workers know she was a vampire?. The ever nagging though in the back of her mind warning that she could very well be falling into some sort of ruse of trap kept tapping her shoulder. But to what end? Even if they did know and were okay with it, Gwendolyn could not let it be known of her own identity. It was against pack law for Gwen to reveal herself publicly. It must not go on record. It would be in Gwen's best interest to hear some of the questions the detective had for her before making the final call on whether to risk trusting Carly or just lawyering up. If she decided on the later she would be out of that place in minutes and there would be lawsuits flying at each and every individual who had a hand in Gwen's illegal seizure from a sovereign vehicle. The private jet was foreign flagged. No warrant was ever produced for her inspection. No demand for entry was ever made. Then there was her detainment, and destruction of Mattias property. Not to mention the injuries sustained by Mattias employees. All this and Gwendolyn was a child, and a female, and an adorably cute one at that. If it ever got out to the media.... Not that the Mattias family would ever allow such a thing. But threats could be made. Many a person would certainly loose their jobs.

But then Michel, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael... they would all get involved and run to her rescue. This is not what she wanted. Many events had happened since the 'Hit' that she was not proud of. Failure upon failure on her part. It almost looked like she didn't want to be a Mattias. This was so far from the truth that it just kept eating at her. She had much to atone for. Much to prove. While she'd had succeeded in her initial goal to make Leonardo, and then if only by accident, Raphael see that they'd somehow strayed from the most important Mattias rule. “Family First and foremost” there were side-effects she did not foresee that almost tore the family apart instead.

With her mind now firmly made up, Gwen folded her hands on her lap and locked her brown eyes on Carly's.

“I didn't mean to keep you waiting. Thank you so much for the exquisite meal. You mentioned you had questions?” She asked politely. She didn't intend the words to be so formal. What would the detective make of this? Nothing to do about it now. The words were spoken and could not be taken back. It was the frame of mind she was in at the moment. It was time to practice what she'd been trained for since she could talk. She despised doing it, but she needed to be certain about Carly before turning it off and being just Gwendolyn. 'Don't let me down, Carly. I need you'

[Carly Evans]

Carly fell silent as Gwen finished her meal, her red eyes not missing anything even in the short time it would take the wolf-girl to finish. No doubt she had to be exhausted by this time, interrogations were meant to break a person down and in all honesty, Carly was surprised that Gwen hadn't broken under the strain of the persistent questions. There was strength in this wolf-girl, that was for certain though it was debatable how much longer she would be able to make it. If Gwen wasn't about to break mentally then no doubt she would have been exhausted simply from being kept in the room for so long. It was a stressful situation to be in to say the least, that's the way it was designed to be after all. That way it was easier to get the information out of a suspect with little hassle, to be honest it was surprising that the wolf-girl hadn't asked for a lawyer or that child services hadn't shown up yet.

The fact that neither had occurred, nor did it look like they would anytime soon, told Carly that Gwen probably had something to hide. That or it was possible that someone really had set her up and was making sure that nothing would get in the way of the investigation. Why anyone would want to try and pin something so horrible as a murder on this girl was beyond her. It was obvious that Gwen had been telling the truth from the beginning after all, even a wild monkey would have been able to tell that. Honestly, Carly didn't know what her so called co-workers would do without her. Here they had wasted the better part of the day questioning this poor girl when they could have been busy locating the real culprit. Not only that but all this so called 'evidence' was purely circumstantial and hardly enough to hold her for this long. Perhaps they were just waiting for a lawyer or child services to show up before they stopped questioning Gwen. Perhaps there was a reason neither had showed however and Carly wanted to find out why as quickly as possible.

If she absolutely had to, Carly could simply release Gwen in order to make the wolf-girl trust her more. That particular card would be left for later however, the vampiress wanted to be able to hear Gwen's side for herself for starters. It wouldn't as biased as it was coming from one of the other detectives at the precinct. Aside from that, Carly knew that werewolves had a good sense of smell and knowing that, it was plausible that Gwen had already figured out she was a vampiress. The last thing Carly wanted was for panic to break out in the precinct as her co-workers found out that she was in fact a vampire. Carly had done a good job covering the fact that she was no longer human thus far but she certainly didn't want to risk being found out now of all times. Besides, if she was found out, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that Collin wasn't what he appeared to be either. Should Collin be threatened because this wolf-girl spilled the beans, Carly might just go back on her vow not to kill...might...

The question would have to wait for another time however as it seemed that during the course of the time Carly had let her mind wander, Gwen had already finished her meal. Downing the rest of her strawberry soda, Carly smiled,"I trust the meal was to your satisfaction?"she asked kindly,"If ya need anything else don't hesitate to ask,"she continued before Gwen spoke up. The formality with which she was addressed threw Carly a little, it was a far cry from the laid back girl she had been talking to before that was for certain. Nevertheless, Carly waited until Gwen had finished speaking before nodding, assuming a slightly more formal air herself. Pulling her feet off the table, Carly sat up fully...or rather, with one foot still on her chair and the other on the floor. It wasn't exactly formal but at least Gwen would be able to see her face more clearly when they were talking now.

"Don't worry about it, we've certainly made you wait long enough. Nice to turn the tables hmm?"Carly mused before setting her now empty soda can on the table,"Now, I'm sure you're sick of hearing this...but could you tell me what happened from the beginning? Yes, I already know but I'd rather hear it from you rather than any of these clowns,"she continued before smiling and waiting for Gwen to speak. Carly had more questions certainly, but she didn't want to overwhelm the girl right off the bat. No, it would be better to ask one thing at a time and wait for a reply. Gwen had to be tired by this time and the vampiress wanted to make things as easy for her as possible.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

Gwendolyn stifled a giggle and couldn't help but smile at the detective's banter about turning the tables. Gwen was about to add her own two cents when Carly continued on to speak, asking Gwen to tell her story again. While she appreciated the humor the detective used, she was just too tired. Gwen sighed and slipped enough for a frown and a quick 'not again' look to register on her features before they went neutral. What more could she say? She'd told the truth thus far. Yes, she'd left out some details, but there was nothing she could say in this room full of recording and surveillance. If she started to tell her story, she would be stopped and questioned for details. Hours may pass, and in the end Gwendolyn would be no further along than before. She had a decision to make. Go through the who act again and see what happened next, or figure out something to say to move things along.

Plan B came to mind gain. But she pushed it away once again. It just was not a clear cut solution. The detective hadn't asked her any questions yet. What excuse would she possibly have to not come back to this room again. How she hated this room. There had to be something she could do to speed things along, but how...

Gwen focused her brown eyes on the vampiress. She opened her mouth to start her story as she'd done more than a dozen times before. Her eyes focused on Carly's red ones and suddenly Gwen smiled. “You really have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. The red is just amazing. I'm a huge twilight fan and I thought they did a good job on the volturi, but those were obviously contacts. Yours though... like they're real.” Gwen said with a smile. “My brother says that mine are like Jacob's” She added, staring into her eyes for a few moments before winking. Gwendolyn could only wonder if she got her message across that she knew, and if it wasn't already obvious, what Gwen was.

Looking downs at her hands and composing herself she started to recount the story. Starting with the airport in England, her brother being called away on short notice, and her suspicions about the screening staff.

[Carly Evans]

The smile that appeared on Gwen's face at her comment about waiting elicited a smile in turn from Carly. It seemed that this wolf girl was becoming more comfortable around her at least, that was something more than any of the other officers had accomplished in such a short time span. That was until the vampiress requested for Gwen to repeat her story and got the response she had expected. It wasn't that Carly especially needed to hear it told again but there were subtle cues, hints and perhaps some details that the officers might have left out. Being in an interrogation room for as long as this girl had would be exhausting for anyone, and Carly had to give her props for lasting this long without suffering a complete mental breakdown.

Thus, Carly wasn't at all surprised to see the expression that passed over Gwen's features and gave an apologetic smile in turn before waiting to see what the wolf girl would say next. The words that followed were certainly not what Carly had been expecting to hear and it was all she could do not to outright hiss. Instead, the 'pretty' red eyes that Gwen had referenced flashed dangerously in warning as her hand tightened around the pop can still in her hand. The weak metal gave way all too easy under the vampiress' strength as was indicated by the CRRUUUNNNCCCHHH of the can as it complained about the abuse it was receiving. That bitch; did this wolf girl really just try and threaten her?! If looks could kill, for the brief instant that Carly allowed her rage to show would have struck Gwen dead. The ease with which the girl had threatened her and seemed to be making idle conversation enraged the vampiress to no end. Like hell she was going to take that without a fight, if Gwen really did reveal her secret, Carly would be done playing nice. In fact, the vampiress might just forget that promise she had made to never kill a living being if the wolf girl did follow through on the perceived threat.

Setting the nigh destroyed soda can on the table, Carly neatly folded her hands in her lap and forced a smile in an effort to somewhat control the urge to just up and strangle this girl. Innocent or not, if anyone dared threaten her, and subsequently Collin, by revealing their secret she would make sure they lived to regret it...if they managed to survive at all... Gwen had referenced Twilight and her eye color for that matter, very well then, Carly would play along for the time being. In truth, the vampiress despised Twilight and the very idea that vampires could sparkle in the sun like some sharp-toothed pixies that just happened to have a lust for blood. If vampires were really the pixies that the books made them appear to be then they should have burned in the damn sunlight. Whatever...to each her own, if Gwen liked the books about a werewolf that fell in love with a vampire infant than by all means she could like them but she better be damned sure not to compare her to the likes of those pixies again. "I don't care much for them myself..."Carly replied in a polite, more professional voice,"Though...I agree with the Volturi...Do you recall, perhaps what the Volturi did to those who threatened them and their way of life? I found it enlightening in some ways, what about you?"she continued, before falling silent and waiting for some form of response.

As Gwen looked down and began to recount her story, Carly listened quietly even as she took in every detail, looking for subtle cues and body language that would reveal more than the words the vampiress knew by heart. It seemed that Gwen was telling the truth; whatever had happened had occurred rather quickly and they were just wasting their time with this girl when they should have been trying to catch the real culprit. For whatever reason, a man had been killed while leading Gwen from the plane and yet this girl had been targeted for suspected terrorism. Imbeciles...if Carly ever got her hands on the one responsible for the accusation there would be hell to pay. Who knew how far away the true culprit had gone by this time...that, or he could still be around, biding his time until he could try his luck with Gwen again. If anything it would be better if this wolf girl was placed in protective custody if only to make sure she didn't get in the way hurt.

"Alright, I believe you. You're not lying at least, which means these imbeciles have been chasing the wrong lead this entire time,"Carly said, rubbing her temples slightly before sighing quietly,"You said you had a guardian with you. Is there a safe house you can go with them? If not I can take you and your guardian to one myself. Until we know for sure that you aren't the target we can't let you be put in danger. That and this so called evidence that people have been talking about is circumstantial at best. For now, it'd be better to get you somewhere safe,"she continued to explain before standing and waiting for the click that would indicate the door was open before holding it open for Gwen. One thing was for damn sure, she wasn't about to let this wolf girl out of her sight after that threat. Sure, Carly may appear calm if not for the fact that almost every nerve in her being was screaming at her to eliminate the threat. It would be so simple to do it right then...but that was just it; it was too easy... If Gwen was indeed a threat, Carly would see her suffer before she would even consider being merciful.

"You coming?"Carly asked after a moment. The sooner they could get out of the precinct and someplace they could talk the better. At least then, Carly would be able to tell for certain if this wolf girl was really the innocent she claimed to be. Sure in this crime she was innocent but of the other threat...the vampiress wasn't so certain. Until she knew for sure, there was no way she was going to let Gwen leave her sight whether her guardian liked it or not.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

When Carly reacted to the twilight references, Gwendolyn did not blink for an unusually long time. It was the only outward sign of something not being right. Her expression remained unchanged and she'd continued to smile but inside she was terrified. Something unexpected had happened. So unexpected, in fact, that Gwen had to pause and go over everything she'd said and done. The vampiress in front of her had gone from beauty to beast so fast that it made her head spin. 'What the hell just happened?'She asked herself. To an average person there was not much outward sign of this from the vampire. But Gwendolyn was a Mattias and though she was no Mitchel or Leonardo, she could still read people pretty well, and what she just saw in tones of voice, gestures, eyes and body language together was that Gwen had somehow crossed some line that she did not know existed.

All Gwen could do was remain silent and hyper analyze every word and gesture that the vampiress before her exhibited. One thing for certain, Carly was pissed. That was obvious to a Mattias anyway. Except for the crushing of the can. The dimmest of human could pick up on that. Gwen allowed her smile to slowly fade. Feigning ignorance would not help her here. The vampiress was trying to get a point across, luckily Gwen would not have to guess. The detective gave her own, not so subtle, hint by referencing the volturi, even after flat out stating that she didn't care for Twilight.

Gwendolyn sighed mentally as she figured it all out rather quickly after that. Gwen put herself in Carly's place and replayed her comments and immediately saw how she could be misunderstood as trying to blackmail her with threatened exposure. Gwen groaned mentally. She was just too naïve when it came to other supernaturals. Humans were just so simpleminded. So easy. With supers you had to keep so many other factors in perspective.

Gwen managed to tell her story as she just disconnected herself to keep from panicking. She said nothing while Carly spoke afterwards. No words would come, and even if they did, she did not trust herself to do even more damage. All of a sudden Carly was talking about taking her somewhere “safe” and something tightened around Gwen's heart when she realized things had changed so suddenly from everyone trying to keep her in that room, to now being taken out.

Carly's “Are you coming” question brought Gwen back to the here and now. Gwen was in a rather tight predicament. She'd pissed off the vampires making her think Gwen was threatening to expose her. Now that same vampiress was trying to usher her out of the protection (mental chuckle) of the police station to her personal custody. Yeah, she mentioned getting Carmella, but Gwen was there when Carmella was injured. Even with the lycan healing factor, here was just no way she could be in any condition to take Gwen in just 36 hours. Did Carly know this, or was she taunting Gwen.

Gwen slowly stood. Instinct told her to walk past the detective and then bolt. She pushed the flight reflex away knowing she was in a government building or police station and there were a few thing for certain. Carly was a detective and this place was full of cops. Gwen would have to fight her way out, and even with the element of surprise and the fact that most would balk at harming a 12yo girl, she stood little chance of making it outside. All Carly had to do was open fire with her pistols and Gwen would go down. Just a terrorist trying to escape. No one would even question her motive. Why make it easy for her?

There was no choice. Gwen would have to take her chances with the vampiress. Gwendolyn's only chance was to hope Carly hadn't made up her mind to kill her. It was just another mis-understanding after all. Three seemed to be allot of that with her recently. Gwen kept her brown orbs on Carly's red ones as she walked up to her. If only she could have communicated something that way, but Carly was no Mattias however. Once Gwen reached Carly, her gaze dropped as she let herself fiddle with her fingers nervously. Walking past she whispered. “I didn't mean it like that”. In the hall Gwen picked her head back up and looked around to orient herself and to avoid the risk of someone noticing that something had happened between the two. Gwen had gone from all smiles in the room to a more somber yet neutral expression. Any other detective worth their salt like Carly would take notice otherwise. Why seal her fate by drawing attention to herself.?

“If it isn't too much to trouble, I would like to see Carmella, even though I don't think she will be able to come with us.” Gwen asked politely, and something strange happened as she continued to say “They hurt her bad” she finished with a surprise choke of her voice. Why didn't she see that one coming? The stress was just too much. When Gwen's eyes started to well with tears against her wishes, she realized then that yes, she was a Mattias, but she was also just a little girl. And that little girl was alone for the first time in her life. There was no cavalry of family, employees or servants to come to her rescue. No lifeline of her cell phone with emergency numbers. No pistol that may have leveled the playing field between her and the vampire. It was just Gwen at 5' nothing and barely 90 lbs soaking wet. Her one and only natural advantage of transforming into her birthright, all but neutralized. This frightened her to the point that she thought she might pee herself. Somehow through all this she was hopeful that she'd made the right choice in trusting Carly early on. It was all that was keeping her together as she walked past all of the humans who were sworn to protect, just not her kind, and closer to the exit which came into view shortly after.

[Carly Evans]

As Gwen paused briefly after Carly's own Volturi comment and stared at her, unblinking, the vampiress knew that she had struck a chord. That was good then, perhaps now the little witch would think twice before threatening her again. Really though it was a dumb move on Gwen's part to threaten the only person who was on her side. Most everyone else was more than content to to to just let the evidence do the talking and not give a rat's ass whether or not the real killer was still out there. Oh yes, and never mind the fact that the entry point of the bullet had entered from the front or that it had been above Gwen's head.

Even if the wolf-girl had been higher up on the ramp leaving the airplane, there was still the little fact that the bullet wound entry point had come from the front. With Carly's own enhanced speed given to her because of being a vampiress, it was nigh impossible even for her to be behind the guy, race in front, and get behind him again in order to have the corpse fall on her. And yet these imbeciles expected this girl to do that impossible and move faster than the blink of an eye, or a bullet hole for that matter. How the heck was Gwen supposed to pull something that Carly wasn't sure she would be able to do. Clearly they wanted to take the easy way out instead of making sure all the evidence added up.

When Gwen finally did start her story, Carly listened intently, her red eyes never once leaving the wolf-girl's own brown orbs that could very well be equated to poor, pathetic puppy eyes. True, Carly had a weakness for stuffies and cute animals but that didn't mean she wouldn't punish the animal if they bit her or so much as threatened her. One thing was for damn sure, the vampiress wanted to take Gwen out of the precinct so she could finally get some answers without playing this ridiculous game of cat and mouse. Aside from that, there was something that just didn't add up and perhaps if Carly wasn't so angry she would have been more concerned about how Gwen was doing rather than debating whether or not she should just strangle this damn wolf-girl. Whatever the case, it seemed that the girl was telling the truth which meant that the real killer was still out there, probably laughing at them for believing that a little girl could possibly cause all this chaos.

Standing up, Carly explained what they would do next before waiting for Gwen to follow her lead. After a few moments, the wolf-girl finally did stand, her pathetic puppy dog eyes looking into the vampiress' own red ones until they reached her. As Gwen fiddled with her hands, a tell tale sign of nervousness, if not fear, Carly couldn't help but be glad that she had managed to scare her. Had Carly known how badly she had frightened Gwen however she might have felt a little bad. The vampiress knew how it felt to be scared; still remembered that awful, gut-wrenching feeling that only came when you were so sure that each breath was going to be your last. Carly had felt that way two times in her life and didn't care to repeat the experience again. This thought was about the furthest from the vampiress' mind right then however, the girl was little more than a threat in her eyes after all and the only reason Carly hadn't found a reason to simply kill the girl was because she wanted answers. From what she had seen it was clear that Gwen didn't want to talk about anything supernatural or otherwise in the precinct. If Carly wanted to get anywhere in this case-and back to her fiancée-she needed Gwen's full cooperation.

The whisper that came from the girl in question made Carly pause for a moment, wondering exactly what 'that's she had been talking about. For all the vampiress knew she could have been referring to any number of things but Carly certainly didn't have the patience to figure it out right then and there. The only thing on the vampiress' mind in that moment was getting the little whelp out of the precinct and in a safe house, one preferably under her care no less. As Gwen stepped out of the room at last, Carly watched her like a hawk to make sure that she didn't so much as try to escape. Of course doing such a thing mere moments before being placed in a safehouse would only serve to incriminate the wolf-girl and would certainly not bode well for an attempt on clearing the evidence against her.

The next words that came out of Gwen's mouth did in fact serve to assuage Carly's anger at least somewhat. Once again the vampiress was reminded how much the wolf-girl had been through and how strong she had been the entire time. Everyone had their breaking point however and it had seemed Gwen had finally reached hers. If it not had been for the perceived threat earlier, Carly might have hugged Gwen right then and there as she asked such a simple request. To be honest, Carly had forgotten that Gwen's guardian had to be taken to the hospital in her own fury at being threatened by a little girl no less. Even still, the vulnerability she saw on Gwen's face elicited at least some response from her. "Shh, it's gonna be alright honey, dontcha fret none,"Carly said in a more gentle voice as she wiped a few tears from Gwen's eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind the girl's ear,"'Course we can go see her, we need to pick her up after all. Now let's get your things and we can get outta here, k?"she continued before leading the way to where Gwen's belongings were being stored. Not long after that, Gwen had been officially released and both were on their way to the hospital and hopefully some answers...

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

Carly's words of comfort fell on deaf ears. Gwendolyn heard the words, but was unable to process them at the moment. The only thing Gwen was all too aware off was the cold hand that wiped at the tears that had escaped against her wishes. The feel of the vampire skin sliding over hers. Fear worked its evil devices upon her imagination forcing her to imagine that hand so easily wrapping itself around her neck and ending her life. Only it wasn't Carly who she was seeing. It was the vampire who'd tried to kill her those few months ago. Gwen's flashback took her to the restaurant on that fated day. Her brother Leon had just taken a bullet to the chest. Gwen stared in horror. She was frozen, not of fear, but shock. Unlike the real event, Leon did not just get back up and pull her to safety. Instead a shadow loomed over them and Gwen slowly turned her head and looked up at the towering figure before her. His face lost in shadow, She could see the hands who's image was permanently seared into her mind in place of Carly's. Gwen's eyes widened in fear just as the other hand that was still unseen put that gun she would never forget to her head and pulled the trigger. 'BANG!” Gwendolyn slammed a mental door shut on that image, It took all the mental discipline she could muster not to flinch, gasp, tremble, or just flat out scream. The hand returned to the well manicured feminine one belonging to the detective as it pulled a loose strand of Gwen's hair behind her ear. Gwen's heart raced and she willed it to slow. Her lungs burned for her to gulp down air and hyperventilate, but she willed those impulses away. She had to feign calmness if she was to live. She was glad for those tears that slipped now. It gave her an excuse to wipe at her eyes and face. Time to get herself back under control. What kind of Mattias was she if she couldn't do at least that much.

'Course we can go see her, we need to pick her up after all. Now let's get your things and we can get outta here, k? Was the next phrase spoken. This time Gwendolyn was processing information again. Her first instinct told her that the vampiress was patronizing her. The words rang of a facade and deception. But could Gwen trust this analysis? She was not blind to the fact that she was unhinged. She didn't know what to do. She felt helpless. She needed something. A focal point. But her father's voice of guidance was nowhere to be found. It always helped her before. The voice of reason that always whispered something that helped her along the way. Where was this voice now? Why was it silent? Why had her father abandoned her when she needed him most.

But she already knew the answer. She'd committed herself to doing this alone. She'd chosen to keep the rest of the family out of this and go at it by herself. For some reason this isolated her from even the whispers of words of her life lessons of the past. It was at times like this that she cursed her gifts. Twelve years and she was no where near mastering her own mind. 'You're just a child, after all' she thought to herself. She played Carly's actions and words in her mind once more, and as she figured, it was no use. Carly was sincere, yet not so. Carly failed to mention the very thing that forced her failure. As if she didn't know or didn't care about Carmella's condition. Or was it that she'd been lied to and Carmella was actually okay? Just another interrogation tactic? It was frustrating not knowing for sure. What would happen to her once she left the building?. Would she really be taken to the hospital, or would she suffer some 'accident' on the way there. The unknowns poisoned her resolve.

Coming back to the present, she glanced left and right to see others staring at her. Carly was walking away from her and she was supposed to be following. Gwen hurried to catch up. There was nothing else to do. Nowhere to run. Gwendolyn was at the mercy of the vampiress, and she knew it. Gwen decided to accept whatever fate she'd been dealt. She got her belongings back, but without a proper passport, she could not leave the country even if she wanted to. I guess that was the whole point in not issuing her one. She also knew she wouldn't get her pistol back. Who would let a twelve year old carry one of those around. It sounded crazy even to her. Even is she had her papers, they were valid in England and not here. Carly immediately took possession of her Kimber pistol. Though she didn't show it, I bet the box of ammunition raised an eyebrow. They were designed to kill everything, up-to and including her kind, after all. Gwen's only hope was her cell phone. Her lifeline to salvation if she chose to abandon this lone venture. It, at least, was returned. Along with all the other contents.

And then there was Carmella. Gods Gwen hopped she was okay. Gwen didn't say anything while in the police station. She just did as she was told and followed Carly. Gwen let her expression show just how lost she was. It was better than trying to hide behind a facade. She was just so tired. The only other event before she got in Carly's car was just that. Carly's car. Gwen stiffened as she reached for the handle after Carly unlocked the doors. What would happen after she entered, what Gwen perceived to be, the vampire's coffin. Where would the detective take her? Would she at least get to see Carmella? Was Carmella even alive? But she should be. Carly had spoken her name in the police station and Gwen did not notice any adverse reactions from those around her.

Gwen stared at her hand folded on her lap while Carly pulled away from her parking spot and onto the public roads. She didn't even know if she was going in the right direction.

“Will you kill me now?” She heard a voice ask, and almost chocked when she realized it was her own. Somehow she'd vocalized her thought without intending to. Or did she indeed intend to?... Gwen closed her eyes, suppressing a gasp and keeping herself together. She couldn't help the tear that rolled down her cheek. “I really didn't intend for what I said to be a threat. I was trying to get you to see that I knew that you were a vampire and that I was a werewolf” She added, her voice small. What would happen now?.. Would Carly turn out to be working for the assassins after all? Or.... A second passed and she was still alive so she continued. “I needed to speak with you in private” She finished. Her eyes remained closed as another tear escaped. Her voice was low, but smooth and even. A voice of a person resigned to her fate. “I guess I should have just asked for you to go to the restroom. The others followed me when I went before, but I thought it was silly” She thought out loud again she tried to joke, but it ended in an almost sob. Her now shaking hands came up then to cover her face.

[Carly Evans]

Truth be told, Carly really hadn't expected Gwen to believe her words of encouragement were little more than a farce. After her rather blatant display of anger in the interrogation room, only a fool would believe she really meant what she was saying. If anything, the vampiress was more concerned about getting the wolf-girl out of the precinct where she could finally get some damn answers without playing this useless game of cat and mouse. Carly was not heartless however and had she known just how badly she had frightened the Gwen by her little display back in the room or the vision that her touch had just caused to appear she would have been a little gentler. Fortunately, Gwen's attempt to hide her emotions was successful for the most part and though Carly did notice the fear written on the wolf-girl's face as well as the tears that followed, the vampiress thought little of it and contributed it to the stress of the current situation. Carly knew very well how straining being placed in an interrogation room could be and couldn't help but give Gwen credit for how long she had lasted up to this point. The questions asked of her were geared to break a person's confidence at the very least as well as make them repeat the same things over and over again, each to different people who may or may not choose to believe them. Interrogating was a tool, a stressor, used to draw out information that would otherwise remain concealed after all. Such a thing was hardly befitting an innocent person however and the fact that those imbeciles would use those same techniques on a girl was outrageous.

Still, even if Carly was angry she certainly didn't want to seem like a monster, much less to a young girl. One look at Gwen's face and she could tell how vulnerable and afraid the wolf-girl was and though Carly was still tense and admittedly angry with her for even daring to threaten her, the vampiress wasn't cruel. She could see that her actions back in the interrogation room had been a little much but then again, anger hardly gave room for clear thinking or good judgement and thus Carly refused to say anything. If anything, it was Gwen who should apologize for even trying to blackmail the one person who had been trying to help her. Honestly, how idiotic could the girl be for pulling such a stunt. The only thing keeping Carly from wanting to flat out strangle this girl was the fact that they would be out of the precinct soon enough...that and she didn't want to have blood on her hands. The vampiress would give Gwen one more chance at redemption before deciding what to do with the girl.

Gwen's reaction, subtle though it was to saying they would pick up her guardian wasn't lost on Carly but once again she didn't think much of it. Sure she remembered the incident report but didn't think the various reports she had read upon reaching the precinct had much, if anything to do with the wolf-girl's reaction. That and Carly was frankly too angry to care all that much about why Gwen had reacted the way she had even though she had just asked to see Carmella. Nevertheless, Carly had said that she would take Gwen to where her guardian was being kept and that is exactly what she would do even if the vampiress would rather deal with this damned threat first and foremost. If they could just put all their cards on the table so to speak it would make her job so much easier. First thing was first though, they both had to get out of the precint and that meant taking Carly's car, a cherry red convertible that Collin had given to her a while back so she could feel safer when working late nights. It was a sweet thought considering he knew just how much she didn't like nights. Yes, it was odd for a vampire to fear the night but then again Carly had spent a lot of her human life fearing the dark, such a thing simply didn't go away that easily and even now the vampiress was still jumpy at night. With the car though, it certainly made late nights at the precinct easier to deal with to say the least not to mention how much the vampiress adored her 'baby'.

Stopping only a moment to retrieve Gwen's belongings, Carly walked out of the precinct and towards her baby car without looking, or caring, if the wolf-girl followed her. The way Carly saw it, Gwen had little choice but to follow her if she expected to be able to leave. Besides, Carly still wanted some damned answers even if she had to waste time driving around town with a puppy in her car. As the sound of the wolf-girl's footsteps reached Carly's ears, the vampiress easily unlocked her car and waited for Gwen to get in. Instead, Carly was made to wait rather impatiently as the girl hesitated for whatever reason before climbing in. The instant that Gwen climbed into the car and fastened her seat belt, Carly revved up the engine and pulled away without another word. It wasn't until Gwen spoke up a few moments after they were on the way to the hospital that Carly returned her thoughts to the girl now sitting in her car. The quiet question and the fear behind the wolf-girl's voice was enough to give Carly pause as she slowed down to give them enough time to talk before reaching the hospital.

"Depends..."Carly all but hissed out before Gwen continued, answering the vampiress' unspoken question in the process. The obvious emotion behind the wolf-girl's voice along with the words that followed extinguished what anger still remained at the perceived threat back at the precinct. So it had simply been a misunderstanding after all, that was good...that meant there was one less thing to worry about. The last thing that Carly needed was some wolf-girl trying to blow her cover at the precinct by telling everyone that she was a vampire...though...now that she thought about it, the chances of others believing a young girl were highly unlikely. Sigh, once again Carly had let her anger get the best of her...ugh...really she should learn to control her temper better but then again Gwen had unwittingly threatened Collin and that was something that the vampiress would not stand for. As Gwen continued on, saying that she needed to talk to her alone, Carly couldn't help the bitter half-laugh that escaped her thereafter.

"Well, ya got me alone now, hun'. And to answer your question, no, I won't kill you. I was seriously considering it when I had thought you'd threatened me before but now that you've answered that question, I won't,"Carly replied in a more gentle voice, a stark difference from the cool curt remarks earlier. Gwen just seemed so vulnerable and afraid now that they had left the precinct...even if Carly was still mad at the wolf-girl, it would have proven nigh impossible for her to keep the act up much longer after hearing her speak. Seeing Gwen cover her face out of the corner of her eye elicited a quiet sigh from the vampiress before she reached over with one hand and set it on Gwen's knee as a reassuring, comforting gesture. "It's alright now honey...we'll figure this out together, alright... Look, I'm sorry I acted the way I did back there but I did think you had threatened me and consequently...my fiance,"Carly said quietly, a slight smile playing on her features at the mention of Collin. Just the thought of her fiance never failed to bring a smile to the vampiress' features. There was still a lot of planning to be done before the wedding certainly but there was still time for that...they had all the time in the world after all. "Now, I know that you're a wolf-pup and you know that I'm a vampire. This might surprise you but hey, I actually like werewolves...hell, if I hadn't been bitten I might've tried to become one myself,"Carly continued, smirking slightly as she spoke, only half joking in that moment before falling silent if only to see what Gwen would have to say.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

Gwen couldn't stop crying. The vampiress next to her had done more damage in the last 15 minutes than the hours of interrogation could ever had hoped for. Interrogations she could understand. She was a Mattias, and if that was not enough already, she was also a lycan. She had the enhancements and strength to bolster her already abundant resilience that came from her training. She could analyze a person and read them like an open book. She could spot deception and pick a person apart by reading body language and speech, while being able to make herself stealth by being able to control her own reactions. Even at her young age, she was as strong in mind and will as she was intelligent.

Vampires however were her Achilles heel. Gwen had never been scared of anything in her life. She knew no fear until that day not too long ago in that restaurant. While she'd not been scared then, the traumatic event had scarred her for life. Vampires were now her boogie man. The stuff of her worst nightmares. Her lack of understanding them made them all that more dangerous. She'd tried researching them but found trying to get any real information from the jumble of human folklore tedious. What good would it have done anyway? Gwen was fine at first when Carly walked into that interrogation room, even going as far as trusting Carly, but her fears undermined her talents. Once Carly had gotten angry and threatened her, she was no longer able to fall into herself and be a Mattias. There was doubt and uncertainty which fed her fear and eroded her resolve. Thinking back, Gwen realized the drain on her the moment Carly had come into the room. It was light at first, Gwen having culled her initial fear. The drain increased however. How tired Gwen had become, and even with the food, was unable to recover.

The vampiresses total disregard for Gwen while angry had pushed her over her limit. The statements that rang as half truths at the police station. Walking off without a glance back to see if Gwen was even there. The fact that she had Gwen's gun and the lethal ammo. Carly' hissed reply and laugh as Gwen all but begged for her life. All those things and more. They all lent to the breakdown. Without the guidance and help of her family she normally fell back on, Gwendolyn's resolve simply crumbled. She no longer trusted herself and her talents. She second guessed everything she once relied on to pick her opponent apart. Gwen was simply unprepared for this close of an encounter with the stuff off her nightmares. Was this vampire her executioner? And if so, why? Why her? What had she done to warrant being assassinated? Gwen wasn't even in line to take over the family business.

Or had she been right with her first impression of Carly? Was it really a misunderstanding? The gentle hand on her knee and apology Gwen's mind, always analyzing, told Carly was being truthful. Still, she she shook her head and cried with her hands still covering her face. And Carmella.... She'd soon find out what her condition was. Her mind blanked after remembering her broken body being manhandled as Gwen walked past with that idiots death grip on her shoulder. Semi-auto riffle pointed at Gwen's back. Even then she'd tried to get to Gwen.

At Carly's joke about liking werewolves and wanting to be one, Gwen actually laughed, her hands wiping at her face. "Quit poking fun at me" Gwen laughed. Somehow that little bit of humor distracted Gwen long enough for her to regain control. She pulled tissue out of her purse and wiped at her eyes and face before blowing her nose. "I'm sorry. I'm like, such a mess." she said, still wiping at tears that although slowed, still fell.

"I couldn't help it. I really though you were,like, with the vampire that tried to kill my brother and I a few weeks ago, when you got angry."she said surprising even herself. Its like she had nothing to lose."congratulations" she chimed as the comment having a fiancé surfaced. Gwen's eyes became downcast as she thought about her boyfriend Yukki. She put herself in Carly's shoes for a minute and wondered if she may have reacted the same way. Gwen sighed preparing herself for the tale she had to tell. Could she keep herself together?"I have someone to protect also. But I guess you want to know how this all started..." Gwen played with her hands on her lap nervously. The tale she would tell would force Carly to circle the hospital more than a few times.

[Carly Evans]

When Gwen laughed in turn at her comment about trying to become a werewolf, Carly laughed in turn, relieved that she had lifted the wolf-pup's spirits at least somewhat. "I'm serious!"the vampiress laughed,"I've always loved wolves and dogs in general really. My fiance is more of a cat person but I grew up with dogs as a kid so it makes sense I suppose,"she continued, smiling a little more as Gwen continued. "Think nothing of it honey, I'm not surprised after what all you've been through today,"Carly replied before falling silent if only to let Gwen calm down just a little more.

What was said next however brought a small, almost indiscernible frown to the vampiress' features when Gwen admitted that she had thought Carly was with some other vampire that had tried to kill them. Well now, that was a silly thought...the only other vampire that Carly knew of aside from Collin had been Desmond and they had killed him long ago. Of course she knew there were more vampires, someone had to turn Collin after all and then there was that red eye of his... Anyway, the fact that someone, vampire or not, had tried to kill this girl and her brother was unsettling to say the least. Could the false terrorist report have been a coverup for yet another assassination attempt...but then, if that was the case...where was Gwen's brother. It would be much easier to take two birds out with one stone then it would be to stage two separate assassinations.

Questions filled Carly's mind as her thoughts raced trying to figure out why this girl would have been targeted in the first place. Wolf-pup or not, it was utterly ridiculous to believe that this was some fluke and a terrorist of all things... Really now, who in their right mind would believe such a load of crud as that. Apparently everyone in the precinct now that Carly thought about it...sigh this was turning out to be more than the vampiress had bargained for. Not only had she promised to take Gwen to a safe place but now she was finding out that this wolf-pup was being hunted of all things. So distracted by her own thoughts and questions that Carly almost didn't hear Gwen say congratulations. Smiling and uttering a quiet 'thank you' at that, Carly returned her attention to the road and her thoughts about what could have possibly caused Gwen to be wanted by what sounded like vampire hit men.

No sooner had the vampiress opened her mouth to ask a few questions about the circumstances surrounding the first encounter that Gwen began to explain what had happened from the beginning. Every detail that the wolf-pup spoke about was taken into account as Carly tried her best to figure out what the hell she had gotten herself dragged into. They would drive around aimlessly for a while as Gwen explained before Carly would finally pull into the hospital parking lot where Carmella was supposedly located. "Sure sounds like ya've been through a lot there, hun',"Carly replied in a thoughtful voice,"I just might have more questions for ya later but right now I have some thinking to do...and besides, we're at the hospital. Waddaya say we go see how yer friend is doing hmm?"she continued before stepping out of the car and waiting for Gwen to follow.

[Gwendolyn D. Mattias]

By the time Gwendolyn finish recanting her story in detail, she'd calmed and stabilized. She and Carly were back to speaking casually and openly like they did back at the police station before the "misunderstanding". Again Gwen realized that Carly was just "different" somehow. Gwen just instinctively trusted her. With the fear and doubt no longer clouding her judgement, it was clear to Gwen now that her first impression and instincts were dead on. This went a long way in returning her confidence in her abilities. It also made it clear that Gwendolyn had been more than traumatized by the whole assassination thing than she let herself think. Yes, she was a Mattias and as such, better than normal human beings, but she was reminded with every "incident", that it was becoming more and more clear to her that her youth and inexperience were her archilies heel. Gwendolyn was still child. She was simply overwhelmed. Who wouldn't be at her age?.

With this new understanding of her limitations, Gwendolyn resolved to accept the fact that she had a problem. Daddy, her brothers, the staff.... They were all in the right. They saw her vulnerability and were doing their best to protect her. She'd fought them at every turn. She saw her brothers and how they went about dealing with things and thought she could do the same. What a fool she'd been. And now she and those she cared about were paying the price for her stupidity. She should have canceled the stupid trip when her brother was called away. Or taken on a second bodyguard as Carmela had suggested. Then there was Carmela's suggestion that they use the private airports in England as well as Italy instead of the international airports.... But those would have added hours to her commutes at home as well as here. Gwen had fought the security recommendations every step of the way. 'Carmela... I'm so sorry...' She said mentally.

"Sure sounds like ya've been through a lot there, hun'" Carly replied a minute after Gwen finished her story. This brought Gwen back to the here and now. Gwen smiled and nodded at Carly stating they were at the hospital and whether Gwen was ready to go see Carmela. She wiped at her eyes again. New tears wanted to flow, but Gwen fought them back. She was done crying. Gwen opened her door and stepped out of Carly's car. As she closed the door she seemed to really 'look' at the car for the first time. It was a cute cherry red convertible that went well with Carly's eyes. "Nice ride." Gwen commented, turning to smile at Carly.

Gwen walked with the detective into the Hospital. As they entered the hospital Gwen lagged to walk just behind Carly, her eyes downcast, as they made their way inside. Gwendolyn didn't know why, but she found herself glancing at Carly's hand. She couldn't understand why, but she wanted to hold that hand. When they stopped at the information desk to ask what room Carmela was in, Gwen's heart rate sped up. She couldn't help her anxiety. Thoughts of Carmela on the plane was all she could think about as the receptionist commented that the patient had just been moved out of the ICU ward. How badly had her friend been injured?. It was all her fault. As Carly talked and displayed her badge when the receptionist mentioned visitation was not allowed for that patient, Gwen gave in to the urge and reached out to take Carly's hand. Her own, she noticed, was trembling as she did so. Gwen kept her eyes downcast. What childish thing to do. Yet she couldn't help herself. She was scared at what she would find. The images were so vivid and clear. She could still hear Carmela's pained shouts. She did her best to protect Gwendolyn to the very end.

Gwen said nothing as they walked. The lump in her throat felt like a bowling ball. She doubted she could say anything even if she tried. She just walked. Not paying attention at all to where they were going. Even when they were stopped by the security detail outside Carmela's room, Gwen could only keep her eyes downcast. Her grip tightened on Carly's hand and she stopped cold when Carly was cleared to continue, stopping her.

Gwen swallowed the lump and slowly tilted her head to look at Carly. A long moment passed in which she just stared. She looked like she wanted to say something. Instead she closed her eyes. Took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Her head turned to face the door. Her eyes opened and she looked to have steeled herself for what lay beyond. Her hand, now steady, left Carly's and reached forward to push the door open.

"Stupid Humans" Carmela cursed in a low voice. There was a ripping sound as she made short work of the cast on left arm. The blond tore it free and let it drop to the floor. She flexed her arm and cracked her knuckles as she sat there on the edge of her hospital bed. She wanted to do the same to the stiff wrap around her torso, but she knew that while her internal injuries were healed, her ribs still needed more time. The healing was always quicker with the limbs and soft tissues like muscles and organs since a wolf needed mobility first and foremost. According to the incompetent human doctors, Her rib cage suffered multiple fractures and breaks and her internal organs had been bruised and punctured as a result. Her arm and colar bone had been broken, just to name the more serious injuries. She should be in a coma or dead. Her body should have been crushed, or so they said, after hearing that the hatch on the plane had been blown with C-4. Her body had left an imprint on the fuselage wall and hatch with the impact. That may have been true for a human. But she was no human. She was a warewolf. The internal bleeding that would have killed a human had stopped almost immediately.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. Good. No coughing fit like earlier. Her punctured lung was done healing. She had to get out of that place. It would be a disaster if the doctors ordered another set of x-rays and saw that all the damage from the initial x-rays when they rolled her into the ER were gone. She had to get to Gwendolyn. Was she also here in this hospital somewhere? Carmella thought back to the plane. The sniper bullet from the high powered riffle that should have hit Gwen in the head had missed. Gwen's stumble had saved her life. The poor bastard of a law enforcement officer's attempt to keep a hold of Gwen thinking she was trying to escape put him in the line of fire instead. She winced at the image of what happened afterwards. Gwen reaching for the officer's weapon. The impact of the but of a riffle's stock impacting the back of the child's head. Gwen didn't stand a chance. She went out like a light. Did they have to use so much force? Its as if they knew she was a warewolf. Or maybe a second attempt at killing her? Could that other officer have been part of the plot? Even the unit's commander was shocked at the sight. He had the man arrested and hauled away. He was even more surprised then the medic they had with them checked Gwen's vitals and said she was alive and that her skull was still intact. That she would be fine. Carmella's rough treatment ended there. They were gentler then. Carmela wanted to kill each and every one of them, but as they gently picked Gwendolyn up to place her on a stretcher, she knew it would be best to keep her anger in check. That was the last time she saw Gwen.

The muffled sound of the challenge of the guards to a person attempting to gain entry brought her out of her thoughts. Someone was coming. Female from the sounds of the voice. Carmela kicked the discarded cast under the bed and laid down quickly. She threw the covers over herself up to the neck. She was sure the nurses had said they would be back much later. She hoped no one would check her arm. If by any chance anyone was coming to kill her, they would get the surprise of their life at a fully functional Carmela and not some poor sap laying immobilized by her injuries.

The latch clicked. the door swung open slowly. There were two of them. And one of them was.... Gwendolyn!. Carmela's eyes widened in surprise. She almost jumped to sit up, but there was the matter of the 2nd person and the open door with the guards outside peering in.

Gwendolyn stopped after taking a few steps inside. She saw Carmela and was glad to see her awake, but her eyes flicked to the heart monitor, IV's and other equipment and couldn't find it in her smile. This was all her fault. All of it!. Her brown orbs settled on Carmela's hazel ones. Unwanted tears welled and fell.

Carmela saw Gwen's reaction and became concerned. She was about to smile and ask what was wrong when the scent hit her. Before she could stop herself, Carmela's eyes narrowed. Her eyes flicked to the woman behind Gwendolyn. The door closer pulled the door shut, just as this happened. Now it was just Gwen and the Vampire. Carmela wasn't sure what to think. Her training kicked in. A vampire was a threat. Had she come to kill them both together? What horrible things had she done to Gwen to get her to lead her here? Her eyes flicked back to Gwen in time to see tears flow. Carmella growled in anger. The poor girl was blaming herself for leading the vampire here to where she could kill them both. She would kill this vampire. She threw her covers off but made sure to over exaggerate pain as she slowly sat up using both arms for effect. She would feign being severely wounded. The vampire would underestimate her and that would make the kill that much easier. She had to get Gwen to safety first. "Gwendolyn. Come here."

To Gwen it all looked much different. She saw Carmela's eyes widen in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed in anger. Gwen thought it was directed at her. It looked like her long time friend was angry at her. Carmela growled. Growled at 'her'. And the tone she used to call her over.... 'Oh,God.... She hates me!' Gwen thought as her hand came up to cover her mouth as she let out a sob and whispered "I'm so sorry. Please don't be angry." Gwendolyn stepped forward towards Carmela. She expected to be yelled at. maybe even struck. She would accept whatever came her way. She would not tell her father. Gwen deserved it.

Carmella was infuriated. Her young master was crying and apologizing to bringing the vampire here. She grit her teeth and shifted her gaze to the vampires red eyes. Her ruse had worked. she then smirked as Gwendolyn walked forward and the vampire did not stop her. She reached out and pulled Gwendolyn behind her and onto the bed as she stood. She kept her eyes fixed on the vampire as she ripped the bandages off her torso, not only to be free of the restricted movement, but to show her weakness as she almost doubled over in feigned pain as she prepared to shift and attack. "For whatever she has suffered. You shall suffer tenfold!".

Gwendolyn saw Carmela reach out a hand to her and reached out her own hand. She noticed then that Carmela was not looking at her. She was looking past her at Carly. Her eyes widened in surprise and understanding, even as she was pulled in and shoved onto the bed. The anger was not directed at her. She saw that Carmela was still severely injured yet trying to protect her. 'No.... she'll be killed!' She though. "Carmela. Wait!. Stand down!!"