The Designated Scapegoat

[Jessica West]

She really had to start arguing whenever it was suddenly decided that she was going to be the bearer of bad news to their bosses. "Goddammit..." She hissed under her breath as she made her way closer and closer to her designation. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought she was marching straight to her demise.

Not only did they have an issue with a group of registered humans; oh no, it got even better. There also was the fact that a sudden number of newly turned vampires were showing up, and without permission or any kinds of registration. Either someone was turning out a deal with the unregistered humans, or that same someone was hoping to create a miniature army. At this point Jessica didn't know which would be worse (or if it would matter all that much) to report.

Finally she stopped outside of Evelyn Rose 's door. If her heart had still been pumping like a normal human's it would've been racing at this point. For now all it could manage was a few slightly swifter-than-normal sluggish beats. Gulping, she raised a hand to knock at the door. Hopefully the Grand Consul didn't know about everything already. Because if Jessica had taken this little trip down nervous lane all for nought, someone was going to be in trouble. Not just her.

"Miss? May I come in?"

[Evelyn Rose]

There were few things that didn't pass the grand consul's ears. It was her job to know everything - see everything. Sometimes, that turned out to be more of a technicality and with the Magistrate being what it was, it was nearly impossible to  keep track of it all. They could try as they might, but there was en entire city, a huge population of both humans and vampires to look after. Thankfully, the Magistrate went hand in hand with the Inquisition. 

The knock on the door had the brunette's brown eyes lifting from the piles of papers on her desk. Her perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly before a small sigh fell from her lips. "Come in," she called out, her tone even.

She kept her gaze firmly on the door, though she couldn't remember having a meeting. And that rarely bode well for anyone. 

[Jessica West]

Was it terrible she'd secretly hoped the Grand Consul wouldn't be there? Such a thought was wishful thinking, because only a second passed before she heard the voice from within call out. So much for that. Jessica took a deep, controlled breath before heading inside.

There she was. Sitting pretty and busy behind her desk. At first Jessica's eyes flew to the numerous papers stacked on high. Seeing the workload the Consul had to deal with admittedly made her a little more appreciative of her one. But soon enough her gaze turned to the one she came there for.

Hands clasped before her, she gave a little bow towards the other woman. Her nerves were high, but she did her best not to let them show (though she doubted it worked). "Sorry if I'm interrupting you but..." She trailed off for a moment just to take another deep breath. Involuntarily she shut her eyes and her brow furrowed like she didnt want to see the impact she was bracing for. "We have a problem. Or two." She admitted, opening one eye slightly to see the reaction.

[Evelyn Rose]

The girl was clearly nervous, though, Evelyn could hardly blame her. Of course, she had no ill will towards the younger vampire, but Evelyn didn't like to have her time wasted.

Perfectly arched eyebrows furrowed slightly and Evelyn's head tilted to the side as she regarded the girl. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. The girl had caught her attention now and the floor was all hers.

Evelyn's face remained still - even. The furrowed brows had smoothed out and she offered the girl a calm exterior. Whatever she was going to say next, Evelyn had a feeling she'd be best of listening.

[Jessica West]

So she had her leader's rapt attention. Jessica was quickly becoming sure that, in most circumstances, she would not want that to be the case. However, the floor was hers and she had better get on with her act. Even if the audience might not like it.

She took another calming breath (or at least an attempt at one) before beginning. "It's come to our attention that a number of registered humans have been turning up missing. Not just one or two, but at least ten have disappeared that we can confirm. Their assigned vampires have notified us of this. As of yet, we have no idea whether or not they were kidnapped, killed, or taken out of the city. If they were taken, we're trying to investigate where they've gone to."

Basically people were vanishing and all they had to report on it was the knowledge it was happening. Not exactly encouraging or even useful news. The next tidbit was even better. Again, Jessica took a breath and kept her voice as devoid of nerves as she could.

"The second thing to report is that a number of newly turned vampires have been turning up without registration. Another problem is that none of them have named their sire or sires. Normally we wouldn't have be as worried if a new vampire showed up, but all of their stories are eerily similar and none of them are talking about who turned them. We believe someone might have made a deal with humans and is turning them without permission so they can get into the Inner City for it's benefits." She explained. She kept out her own speculation about an army of newly turned vampires. That probably wouldn't have been a helpful thing to add.

[Evelyn Rose]

There were many ways of which Evelyn could have handled this situation. She could have gotten mad and blamed the young vampire who clearly had enough issues bringing this to her in the first place - or she could act mature. She could be the head that the Magistrate needed. It probably would have been easier to simply blame the girl. After all, there wasn't anyone else to blame. At least, no one with a face nor a name. Of course, that would hardly be fair.

Pursing her lips, Evelyn took a moment to consider her options. "Do you have the newly turned vampires or are they running loose?" she asked, folding her hands together, fingers intertwined. One could always make someone talk. Even if they were vampires. "As for the humans..." She paused, her brows furrowing. "There's not much we can do about that without more information. I'll call in a meeting with the Inquisition."

Evelyn looked over at the young woman then. She studied her; she was young, pretty and had this kind of aura around her that Evelyn couldn't quite pinpoint. "In the meantime, assign new humans to the vampires who have lost theirs. We don't want any vampires running around on blood frenzies."

[Jessica West]

What, no immediate death? When it became clear that, no, Jessica wasn't about to be chewed up and spit out, she breathed a slow sigh of relief. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath. Hopefully it hadn't been too obvious.

With her impending doom apparently rescheduled, she felt much more relaxed. "We have the newly turned vampires." She confirmed. "Most of them came willingly, but some of them put up resistance." No doubt when they figured out that questions were soon going to follow their sudden appearance. They weren't about to be handed a free meal ticket just like that. It was regretful that nothing more could be done for the humans, but with the little they actually knew Jessica could understand why. Didn't mean she didn't feel a small bit of worry go through her.

Most of that was tossed aside though when she realized she was being observed. Instinctively she felt herself tense up a little. As if expecting the punishment she'd been bracing for to suddenly come crashing down. "Yes miss, we're working on doing so now." She answered. She'd been working on that very thing before being shoved forward as a scapegoat.

[Evelyn Rose]

"Put the vampires in holding cells and make sure they don't get fed. Once they realize how serious the situation is, they'll either talk or die as proud." One way or another, the fact that these vampires lived without naming a sire was breaking the law. They had the information and chose to withhold it. The solution itself might have been cruel, but that didn't change the simple fact that the Magistrate had to react.

Evelyn nodded then, pursing her lips as she considered. "Good work," she offered. It seemed as if the young praetor had a good head on her shoulders and despite the earlier nervousness, she had handled the situation wonderfully. The Magistrate proved itself to be a well oiled machine when every part was played out without the Grand Consuls having to step in to make order from the chaos.

"I'm putting you in charge of this then," she finally added after a moment pause. "I'm giving you full clearance to use the other praetors as well as bringing in the Inquisition." She looked down at the papers in front of her, running her fingers through them until she found the right one. Using a pen, she signed it before handing it back to the young woman. "Don't let me down."

[Jessica West]

Was the sentence for the new vampires a little cruel? Maybe. But Jessica had heard of far worse things the Inwuisition had done to its prisoners. According to her, not everyone even survived.

The younger vampire wordlessly nodded, before feeling a surprising spike of pride at being complimented. That did not happen every day, and she would gladly take it to heart. Hopefully it wouldn't go to her head, but she doubted that. She still wasn't out of the woods yet.

In fact probably quite the opposite, as abruptly she was being put in charge of the case. Her eyes widened just a tad at the amount of responsibility she'd just been given. It was going to be a little scary, but she was sure she could manage. The fact, as she realized, that Shannon was going to be under her power for a little while did bring with it a little cheeky satisfaction. Besides, it wasn't as though she could say no to the powerful woman before her.

Gingerly, she took the paper from her, but kept her eyes on the Consul first. "Of course, miss." She said before glancing down at what she was given. Then she looked up again with a little bit of a smile. "I'll do my best for you."

[Evelyn Rose]

"With that," she began, explaining. "You hold quite the amount of power. Use it wisely." Of course, Evelyn would be sure to monitor the entire ordeal closely, but she saw no reason as to why she couldn't offer the praetor some room to grow. She wanted her to be independent and give her a chance to hone her skills, after all.

It was an opportunity not often given, Evelyn realized. For a long time, Evelyn had wanted to deal with it all on her own, but she also realized that the city had grown. The Magistrate was there for a reason and she couldn't do it all on her own. It was time to let her child grow and become something more. Something bigger.

"Let me know if there's anything else you need."

[Jessica West]

She held the power. Jessica had pretty much figured that from the fact the Consul had said so. However this would prove it to anyone outside this room. Like, for instance, the ones who'd forced her to step forward in the first place. Although now she wasn't sure whether to continuing despising them, or thank them. Only time would tell with this. "I promise I will." She reassured the Consul with a nod.

The pressure not to screw up was, admittedly, high.

But she could handle it. She had to. Not just for the Consul's sake, but for her own moral's sake. She pocketed the paper carefully, knowing exactly what she'd have to do. She just wasn't exactly looking forward to the extra workload, but she'd rise to the occasion. "Of course. Thank you for your time, miss." She responded with a short bow before backing out of the room.