Lovely Ladies & Handsome Gentlemen, I bid thee salutations.

Please note that this story takes place after the events in VTMB.

If you have never played VTMB, I highly recommend you do & if you beat the werewolf with ease, then you (my friend) are a god.

Obviously, there will be a ton of metaphors since Lorelei will be coated in Malkavian Madness.

Please note that *bit* is in reference to the contraption used to place reigns on a horse.

Ready. Set. Madness!

327. That was the exact number of human life forms present that night. If you would have asked me that exact question that night, while I was severely intoxicated, I would have laughed the response: "Five."

And I still would have been absolutely one hundred percent correct. Five was the only number that mattered that night, not any ounce of that silly 327. No, they were all insignificant. They were all the backdrop; the curtains for opening night.

Five was the only number that mattered.

Five was not the number that included myself and a group of my jovial, fun-loving peers, so to speak.

No; no, I traveled alone that night, against all the warnings of caution and care most women would have taken. I had a some ridiculous, emotional hole to fill, sorrow to chase, and so the night did call.

Downtown was alluring. I had a favorite spot, one I felt I knew all too well...and yet in (hindsight) not nearly well enough.

Five was the only number that mattered and somehow even then (in my ignorance) I knew that.

Number One caught my eye first. Maybe it was the strange way her fuchsia colored hair fell about her face (wild and threatening, alluring and energetic) or the way she seemed enthralled with the joy of existence that night. Perhaps, it was the way that even from across the space between us, (in that dreary yet frenzied club) I could tell that her eyes were two very distinctly different colors. I believe, however, that it was just fate's way of extending her chaotic hand in an effort to invite me to the party.

One is where it starts. She approached me. She initiated first contact, and it's ironic because she was the most genuine of them all. Oh Gema.

Number Two was polished, pressed and neat. Number Two was perched upon a booth that seemed more fitting as a throne. Women scattered throughout the club intermittently shuffled in and out of his presence, if they were worthy of his invitation… the moment he held my stare captive in the early blossoming of that night, he cracked a half smirk. My first oversight that night was allowing myself to swim in the idea of him. The second was letting him lead me to his throne room.

And yet three remain.

Three was the shadow that lurked and shifted about the fringes. He craved the darkness and the darkness craved him. Chaos and destruction were his close company and he delighted in them. He was the one that stalked, and his eyes glinted with the pleasure of his hunt. I let him take me by surprise and it nearly cost me my heart.

And the debt I owe to Four…

Four was the knight of Tir, somehow still vigilant to moral codes and social justice; an anomaly in it all. Paradigm. Casually, he leaned against an unoccupied booth. He was firmly grasping a bottle of Jack that he had commandeered from a rowdy bar tender who had tried to hassle a young woman-the old me. If I am honest, he was the first I had met that night, but not in the way that I had met the others...by the time I had met the others, the whispers were already assaulting my ears with their secrets, save One (and even that wasn't entirely true).

Yet when I first met Four, I knew nothing of him or what he really was. Four was just a kind man who had graciously dealt with an unkind soul to ease a confrontation...without trying to bribe me for sex afterwards. He pretended to be indifferent, no feelings to give away, but he had more than he's ever cared to admit.

If it started with One, then by logic (and circumstances) it ends with Four. Unless, of course, you count five.

The fifth puzzle piece...how did she fit? Who was she? Who would she be?

I said 327 human life forms...not an ounce of them really mattered, and that was an accurate statement. Numbers One through Five are of an entirely different life essence and ergo did not contribute to the former count. That count of five, included me, even then. I had (unknowingly) assembled the four. They were all gathered there because of me...and it was my fate to complete their number.

One had heard the whispers of fate and danced to where her ears had had beckoned her, plagued by visions of all the possible outcomes, favorable & unfavorable potentialities.

Two had been plotting my comings and goings for some months. He had even orchestrated the events that lead to the job offer bestowed upon me that moonless night. Hence, how he had the knowledge of my whereabouts. Hence, why he was there.

Three had also been following me, but in a very different manner than Two. In addition, his intentions were far more sinister. Three called upon oblivion and darkness. Three played happily in nightmares, spun of webs of bane and found his prey via the vibrations of their struggle, my struggle. He appeared from the mist.

Four knew nothing of me then. Four did not even realize who I was nor my importance when he first intervened on my behalf that night. Four was only there because One was. He only vaguely sensed something amiss, darkness that crept toward the kingdom he'd vowed to protect; a kingdom that he had shed his crimson tears for. It was only after One's delicate kiss that he saw me in the way the others did...that he came to understand my role…

I was doomed from the start, once they knew, once one of them had caught wind of my scent, the flood-gates of the underworld were destined to burst while I braced myself for the impact.

Hindsight, sparkles with all the errors I committed that night, but if the fates were true to the tale they would testify that there was only one choice I made that ultimately was mine...and that ultimately mattered….and I had chosen wisely.

Typically, when I am approached while encased in the protective confines of the dj booth I thoroughly ignore any other life form that attempts to make contact with me. My domain is mine. Intruders are not welcome, not even with offers of alcohol and faux affection.

But she was different. One was different. At first, our eyes did not dance. With eyes sealed shut, she seemed to transport herself to another realm entirely. Her body rocked and swayed like a gentle wave to the thrum of the music I was delicately orchestrating. I could not bring myself to tear my eyes away from the sight of her. I was almost certain that my former statement was also true of all other occupants present that night, but I couldn't have brought myself to notice them even if I had tried. Whether by beauty or by fate, I was transfixed.

It was in that moment, I was manipulating the way the slow gentle wave caused her to undulate. I could bring this enthralling being to rush & slow with the energy I created… Flawlessly, she followed.

Her eyes then captured mine; she had become privy to my musical mischief. Her color-clashing eyes almost glittered. I wanted a closer look at them. I was almost desperate for it… & it was as if she had her my unrequited desire. In such a strange & disconnected manner, she floated toward me.

With one iris of amber & the other of sapphire, she stared upon me, happily, star-crossed, & surprising adoration. I quickly granted her access to my fortress. I did not have the capacity for second thoughts or hesitations.

"Oh sweet goddess, you hide in a fort when you deserve a throne," One brushed a deep lavender lock from her alabaster face.

"And they all wish to cage you here… funny thoughts," a giggle sharply escaped her perfectly parted onyx lips, "They believe their eyes are keener than thine, yet they want to *bit you, but your mouth is not open."

I found myself wondering how & when she had gotten so close to my ear. When had I removed my headphones? Her riddle-laden speech was like candy to my ears & somehow so clear to me…

She shuddered a pur, "Oh Night Goddess, you know that I am fate's mouthpiece, even now you can see… For you, I can travel to the beyond… For You…"

She trailed off & I felt her pull me close, "Do not shun the one who wears your mantle… the only truth you all shall ever know again…" Her breath danced along the nape of my neck with dangerous electricity.

"Forgive me, my Goddess, the sands fall quickly from the hourglass. It. Is. Now. It. Is. Always. Farewell, my Goddess. May the stars be kind to thee." This statement was punctuated with sharpness-sharp edges gliding along my neck, penetrating soft, vulnerable skin. I found nothing but euphoria in that affliction. My pulse quickened-my blood eager to enter her mouth. I didn't even to bother to question why I wasn't fighting. I didn't care & I didn't want to question anything. My mind was so immersed in pleasure & the whispering of fate, I could only lay abandoned to it. As my heart began to shudder & strain, too tired as a dry vessel, the whispers grew to shouting-frenzied & insane. Yet, every ounce of it felt so good… so natural… Then, blackness.

When my eyes shuttered open again, I found myself supine in my fortress, two club employees fanned me with offers of water & spirits…Spirits… I immediately shooed them away. This was not a place for insects! No. Where was One? I suddenly longed for her with an ache so deep my heart cried.. No. It did not. It did nothing. It was nothing. A place-holder from a past life.

My eyes darted about with a fevered fear. I demanded a club insect reveal the location of One to me at once! He failed to comply.

Why were my thoughts moving so strangely? Fluid, yet it was as if I were seeing life through the light of a strobe. What of One? What of the gentle wave?

I felt my body heat with Frenzy & Terror- haunted by visions of barren wastelands & desolate deserts.

"Find the Rain." A whisper from nowhere licked my eyes. I began to search for it's source. Where was the giver of this wisdom?

"Find the Rain or become the Storm." These soft, breathy whispers, hummed over the jovial callings of my surroundings. How could this be?

"Reveal thyself to me, soothsayer!" My loud request was accompanied by visual dissection of the crowd around me, wild-eyed & gripped by paranoia.

"Shhh," The gentle whisper cooed, "Do not draw attention to us." My form instantly wrought rigid at the sound of this wisp & I could feel all the eyes… & then a hand.

I whirled instantly to identify the Hand.

"Two," Oh no, had I said that aloud?

"Do not share our secret," the wisp so scared…

Two chuckled, "Interesting, Most know me as Alexander, but you may call me as you wish."

"Make your mouth as you made your fortress!" The shaking wisp demanded.

"And what shall I address you by?" Two spoke in unison with the disembodied whisper. This only heightened the feeling of Frenzy.

"Lorelei," The whisper called me by name; was that our name? My name? A name?

"Lorelei," Told Two, yet, I could not seem to see him when my ears were so filled with voices.

"A pleasure, I assure you." Two gently took my slight hand, "You look quite parched. May I offer you a drink?"

"Find the Rain or become the Storm." My head was haunted!

"I am aware. Silence!" I growled softly at the voice. The flood-gates snapped shut, leaving a pleasant echoing thud, & (then) stillness. Stupid ghosts.

"Beg pardon?" Two was speaking, "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said," I told myself to keep my composure, "I am certain I am, like a wilting flower."

"Well, we most definitely can't have that." I could see him clearly now that the wooshing of the flood had ceased. He was a man who could play well with Grecian Gods & they would pay homage to him. His skin was only lightly kissed by the sun; his irises made of stone & his tresses the color of the finest gold. The finest specimen of a man.

"My booth is the way." Two lead the way. I followed; how could I not?