A Minor Inconvenience (Anat)

With one leg crossed over the other Anat sat perched on the edge of the Giovanni’s desk.  It was hard to imagine that just moments ago she had slid from that same spot, her skin taking on a frightening scaled appearance, and squared off with the young Brujah across from her.  Christopher, or rather the body he wore, smiled.

“Do you mind if I use you for a demonstration?” he asked in his cool British tone.  

He could have been inviting her to tea with how plainly he said the words, but what he was asking for was a great deal more.

She stared at him for a moment before replying, “You most certainly may not.”

The words had scarcely made it from her lips when she was overwhelmed by pain.  It was like every organ in her body was shutting down simultaneously and Anat knew this was what dying felt like.  And then it was over.  She was standing in a large hall with Romanesque features where before she had been sitting in a library.  It took her a moment to put two and two together, the suddenness of everything delaying her train of thought.  The realization that she was in the Underworld had barely formed in her mind when she was yanked back to her body.

Anat opened her eyes to find that she had not fallen off the desk, for which she was grateful.  She had sent several things tumbling to the floor but she didn’t care.  In a single swift movement she uprighted herself while her fist followed making a sickening crunch as it made contact with the ghoul’s face.  The nose was certainly broken and blood began to pour from it before the bones could knit back together.

“Feel better?” 

The way he asked made her want to hit him again, instead she said, “Yes.”

“Good.  A minor boon for the inconvenience.”