Beast

Sophie arrived home an hour later, shaky, but relatively unharmed. She fumbled with her keys, which were caked with dried, dark brown blood, and let herself into the house, clutching the binder Ari had given her. She said a silent prayer of thanks that her father was on a fishing trip with his old buddies, because if he had seen her at that moment, it would have raised a lot of awkward, unanswerable questions.

Sophie's first move was to call in sick to work. There was no way she'd be able to show up on time. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and she was sure that she looked a mess. Afterwards, she slowly made her way up the stairs, changed into sweat pants, then collapsed on her bed, curled up in a ball, and cried. It wasn't because she was afraid of Ari, she wasn't at all, but she was embarrassed that she had been overpowered so easily. After all, Ari was just a man, and something as inconsequential as that should have been no problem for her. But little did Sophie know just how extraordinary her attacker was, even if he was just a man. He was powered by something more than simple strength. He was driven by the kind of belief and courage that verged on insanity. Ari did not do what he could do. He did what he believed he had to do. Sophie really hadn't stood a chance. No one could have.

When she was finally able to compose herself, Sophie made herself a cup of tea and devoted the next few hours analyzing this binder. The plastic, dark green covering on it was stretched to the max, almost bursting with information. As Sophie opened the binder, she found it to be carefully catalogued by date, time, and location. There were photo copies of plane tickets, and hotel receipts. There were several photographs of a sanguinarius, Fannar, leaving an old, English Tudor style house. Sophie recognized him from her Fortis training. At the bottom of the page, in precise hand writing, was written Fannar, leaving the home of Milo. 13 March, 2009.

The pictures looked genuine, but there was no way for Sophie to know to whom the house belonged... until she flipped the page, and saw a photo copy of the deed to a house. Signed by Milo Van Buren. Sophie raised her eyebrows. That was... well, that was certainly something, but it mattered little to Sophie because she didn't know who this Milo was, or what role, if any, he had in the Fortis. She didn't even know if that was Milo's real signature. She had nothing to compare it to. This had caught her interest though.

She flipped through more and more pages, filled with more and more proof of Milo and Fannar's contact. There were receipts, tickets, and photographs, but none of Milo's face. They always caught the back of his head, or his face would be a blur. It crossed Sophie's mind that Milo was perhaps a very paranoid man. One who chose a specific seat at the table, or kept his head bowed a particular way, so that he could not be seen. This intrigued her.

Further in the binder, she found copies of official Fortis documents. She could tell that they were Fortis because the watermark on the pages matched the one that had been on the contract she had signed when she began training all those months ago. At the bottom of every one of them was a signature that was growing familiar to her; the signature of Milo Van Buren.

When she reached the back of the binder, she found a small tape recorder tucked in an envelope. There was a label on it saying 30 December, 2003: 13:47.

Sophie was about to hit the play button when...

The phone rang. The sound pierced the still, silent air so violently and suddenly that Sophie jumped. She quickly got up, almost tripping as she made her way over to the phone, lifting it from the receiver shakily.

"Hello?" she said. Her voice sounded foreign to her, distant even. Like the sound waves were hitting her ears from a source far out of her reach.

"Hey Sophie, it's Zane," his deep voice rang.

"Oh, hi," Sophie replied, allowing herself to calm down and her tense muscles to relax.

"You didn't make it in to work today. Is everything okay?" he sounded concerned. Sophie felt bad for that, but it wasn't her fault, and she couldn't tell him the truth. At least, not just yet. Not until she figured out what that truth really was.

"Yeah, I'm sick. I think I'm getting a cold," her voice sounded scratchy, which worked in her favor.

"Really? Because you were fine yesterday," Zane said, still concerned, still trying to make sure she was okay. Sophie wished that he wouldn't.

"I think it might just be a twenty-four hour thing. I'll probably be fine tomorrow," Sophie reassured him, smiling meekly even though he couldn't see her.

"Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then? Feel better, and call me if you need anything," Zane requested.

"I will," Sophie replied, hanging up the phone, and running her hands through her hair. She could almost hear her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She pressed one of her thin, cold hands over it, taking a deep breath. She closed he eyes and exhaled. She needed to be smart. She needed to stay calm and calculate her next move. She needed to verify those documents in that binder, to make sure they were real. And after that, she needed to talk to Ari. She still had questions for him.

Sophie went back upstairs, replacing the tape recorder in the envelope and closing the binder. That could wait. At the present moment, she had to pull herself together. Sophie went to the bathroom and washed her face, because that always made her feel refreshed and new, and took a quick nap. It had been more than thirty-six hours since she had gotten any sleep, and her eyelids were growing too heavy for her to fight it any longer.

When she woke up, it was late in the afternoon, and the threat of Ari was less eminent. Sophie returned to the binder, flipping through its pages. She had to know if the house deed was genuine. That was the piece that tied all the evidence together. If that was false, then all the Fortis documents and the photos of Fannar didn't matter.

She bit her lip, puzzled. Sophie had never owned property before, and wasn't sure where to start. She studied the deed for a long while before realizing that she should go to the address written on the document, to see if it matched the photos of the house in the binder. That seemed logical. She frowned when she saw that the address was in Arlington, Virginia. That was eight hours away, and Sophie didn't even want to think about driving that far. But this couldn't wait. She needed these answers because she had come face to face with Ari, and the threat he posed was real. Very real. She needed to know the truth before she could take any action against him.

Under other circumstances, she would have contacted the Washington D.C. office and asked an agent there to verify the address. Sophie couldn't do that though, because if what Ari was telling her was true, then she couldn't be sure of who to trust, and she couldn't be sure that the agent in D.C. would give her good information.

If she went into the office the following day and told Etienne that she was going to Virginia, Etienne would want to know where Sophie had gotten the information from, and that was not something Sophie could tell her. Zane would have to know as well, and as much as she liked him, Sophie couldn't be sure what Zane would do with that information either.

Sophie sighed. There had to be a better way, but she couldn't think of one at that moment, so she printed out directions to Milo's alleged home, grabbed the binder, and got in her car, bracing herself for the long drive to Virginia.

As the sun began to set, and she drove over the border between Delaware and Maryland, Sophie thought about what she would have to do next. Supposing that the address did match the house in the photos? What did she have to do after that? The deed had been signed several years ago. It was possible that Milo was no longer the owner. She knew that she could check tax records, but if she did that, would it alert him? It was a chance she'd have to take, Sophie supposed. She had a feeling though that Ari wouldn't have given her the binder if there was a chance that it would tip off Milo.

By the time she arrived in Arlington, night had fallen, and Sophie had to reduce her speed to a crawl in order to see the numbers on the houses. She considered all the other ways she could have checked the address, but she wanted to see the house in person. Anything else could be manipulated, but she could trust her own eyes.

It was close to eleven o'clock when Sophie spotted a familiar looking house. She gently tapped the brakes, examining the house before her and closely comparing it to the photos she had. It was difficult to see in the dark, but the house was most definitely the same. Sophie wasn't sure whether she felt emboldened, or disappointed in this.

After nine more hours of driving, and several coffee stops, Sophie arrived back at home. She'd be able to make it to work after all, even if she was a little late. But first, she needed to make sure that Milo still owned the house.

This was easier than she expected. A quick search online brought her to a tax assessment site, and in a few minutes, Sophie had seen everything she needed. She gulped. These were the things she knew; Somehow or another, Milo Van Buren was involved with the Fortis. He owned a home in Arlington, Virginia. And Fannar, a known predator, had made regular visits to that home.

This was enough for Sophie, if not to believe Ari completely, than to want another conversation with him. She needed to contact him. But how? She certainly couldn't call him, and she had no idea where he was staying. All she knew about him was that he was a sanguinarius, and that he was having her followed...

That gave her an idea.

She moved swiftly through the house and made her way to the garage where the garbage and recycling bins were kept. She found a large piece of cardboard, a shipping box, folded so that is would fit in the bin. She took it out and went to get a marker. She retrieved a Sharpie from a mug her father kept next to the phone, and quickly scrawled the words Christian Science Center, Huntington Avenue. Sunday, 2 pm. across the board.

Sophie opened the front door and put the sign, displaying the time and place of her desired meeting with Ari, on the porch so that the words were clearly visible from the street. Whoever was following her would surely relay the message to Ari, and she hoped that she could count on him to meet her the following Sunday.

After she had finished a quick breakfast of cold cereal and orange juice, Sophie removed the sign from the porch, stuffing the cardboard back in the recycling bin and hoping that her plan would work.