One is Silver, the Other is Cold

Posted on Sat 25th Nov, 2017 @ 10:35am by Colonel Horatio Drake & Commander Mikaela Locke & Commander Paul Graves PsyD & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Lieutenant Commander Alora Baro & Lieutenant Anjohl Gaden MD & Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD & Carlo Rienzi & Purulence Addams

2,301 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: The Addams House
Timeline: Halloween Night, pt 2

Chlamydia Addams still stood by the stained glass door of the home she shared with her sisters, watching the cask of Bloodwine being muscled into the parlor. She looked around at the people mingling through her home and smiled. It reminded her of another night, another party. A little girl, standing near the base of the staircase, with Thing on her shoulder; her hair was in two long plaits, and she had a white dress shirt on, its color spreading over the neck of the black knit jumper she wore.

"And where's your costume, dear?" asked one of the guests.

"I'm a spree killer," the little girl answered with dignity and aplomb surprising for her age. "We look just like anyone else... until we snap."

But wait... that was here, surely? But when? And who was the... Chlamydia's mind went blank for a long moment as she looked at the foyer of her home.

"Have you been in the music room?" Jade asked another guest who stood in the doorway to the parlor. "There's some kind of wild beast hide on the floor. It's being used as a rug, and I swear, when I stepped on it, it growled at me!"

Chlamydia smiled slightly and looked out the door. No other guests seemed to be arriving at the moment... or at least, none with physical bodies. She faced the open doorway to the outside, raised her arms in welcome, and in a loud, carrying voice, called out "Friends who have passed beyond; beloved ancestors; those I know, and those I know not. Be thou ghost or god, wight or deva, and you carry no ill-will for those gathered here tonight, enter freely and go at will. Share with us this night our fellowship and our warmth!"

Reon felt a shiver go down his back at the doctor's words. He was face-to-face with a dilemma he hadn't expected. Did he believe in ghosts?

Twining her hands around his elbow, Serena leaned into him and whispered, "You'll protect me, right?"

He leaned down slightly to whisper, "Who's going to protect me?" It still felt good to have contact with another human at that moment, though he felt no ill-will from anything that might have joined them. His gaze was caught, however, by a disembodied black hand which was coming down the stairway banister.

"There you are!" Carlo said as he caught sight of Reon and Serena. "I've never been around so many Fleet people in my life! Glad to see there are some fellow civvies here."

"Hey, I wasn't sure you were coming. Serena, you've met Carlo? He's the competition," Reon grinned.

"Ha!" Serena smiled, "Jade has no competition! Nice to see you, Carlo. I don't know if we've been formally introduced, but I have seen you around."

"If I had ever been introduced to a lady as hot as you before, I would never have forgotten it," Carlo assured her. He grinned at Reon. "Comparing my little Pub 10-42 to Orchids and Jazz is like comparing a garage band to a symphony orchestra--not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's good company, and all the best musicians are classically trained." He glanced around the room they stood in. "Would you get a load of this place? It's spooky as all get-out, isn't it?"

Alora looked around at a sudden gust of wind and, just in case, raised her glass of wine in salute, hey better safe than short-sheeted or something.

Ischemia came around with a tray containing tall, thin flutes. She stopped by each guest and offered one. "For the toast, we'll have shortly. You can be a two-fisted drinker, or you can leave your empty glass on the tray. I'm a dual-purpose server tonight." Her rich carmined lips curved in a smile for each guest.

"Thank you," Paul said as he accepted a champagne flute from her. "You're Ischemia Addams, aren't you? Your family has the most interesting taste in names. Are your parents physicians?"

"I am Ischemia," she answered with a silken smile. "They weren't, no, but if you want to know about them, Chlamydia is the one to ask."

She turned to search the room and waved her sister over. "This nice doctor wants to know about our parents. I'm sure you are better at explaining them than I shall ever be."

Chlamydia raised her eyebrows at her sister, then looked at Graves. "Father is a speculator," she explained. "Once he found out that he could make a killing in the markets without legal complications, there was no keeping him out. Mother is a homemaker with a doctorate in classical studies... which is likely why we girls speak and read dusty, dead languages."

Paul nodded. "I was actually more curious as to how your parents chose the names they did for the three of you. I asked your sister if they were physicians, and that's why she called you over. I always thought Megaly would make a pretty name if I were going to name one of my children for something medical."

Addams smiled. "How lovely," she commented. "My...." the next word would have been 'child,' but it never came. Chlamydia's mind went blank for a long moment. "A shame you're not dating my sister," she recovered. "No, not the one in the slinky dress," she said with amusement as the psychiatrist's eyes flicked that way. "The other one. 'Graves' would be such a delightful name to add to the family tree." Chlamydia smiled at him again, and moved on.

Paul chuckled. "It actually refers to gravel in Bordeaux, France, but I do agree, it is fitting for the family ambience tonight."

"I hope this is real alcohol," Drake said, leaning into Locke again. "Then again, by the looks of the place, I doubt synthahol has ever crossed the threshold." He smiled and thanked the oddly intimidating figure who presented him the tray.

"I can't speak for the champagne," Carlo said to Drake in passing, "but I can promise you, the bloodwine is real--and warmed to the correct temperature."

Mikaela raised an eyebrow. "Well," she said, with mock-indignation, "Just be grateful you're not in Ops first thing in the morning." She glanced across at Doctor Addams, "Also," she added in hushed tones, "I don't envy the poor son-of-a-bitch that Chlamydia's got covering her Alpha-shift tomorrow."

Carlo looked about for Dr. Addams and found her talking to a guy in a tuxedo. So much eye-candy; so little time, Carlo thought. He waited until the two had finished speaking and presented Dr. Addams with a box. "I thought you and your sisters might like these since this is supposed to be an evening for communing with spirits and all. These are called spirit shakers They're supposed to bring you good luck and help you meditate."

"Thank you, Mr. Rienzi," the Doctor said, accepting the box, and glancing within. "Aren't they just darling? I'm reminded of Japanese nature spirits, the..." she paused, looking up and to the right, then went on, "kodama." She closed the box, and repeated, "thank you," as she moved on.

Alora put her empty glass on Ischemia's tray and took a fresh one. "I'm Alora, I'm sorry I don't know your name..." she said, knowing this was one of the CMO's sisters, but she was still learning people. On an individual basis, she was fine; in party groups, Alora always got a little nervous as she tried to look for people she knew. So she tended to hang on the sides watching and generally enjoying the atmosphere at first until she settled.

"I'm the legal Addams, Ischemia," said the woman. "Oh, I think we're about to move on to the most exciting part of the evening." She touched the woman's shoulder gently. "Don't worry about a thing. It's all very real."

"Friends, living and dead," Chlamydia said, picking Thing up from the banister and settling it on her shoulder, "if you care to participate in the séance, kindly begin moving in the direction of the dining room."

Entering the Addams' home so late to the party, Andrew was hoping the night's festivities would have taken people past the point of noticing his arrival. Instead, as he passed through the entrance, he saw the majority of the guests entering the adjacent room and taking their seats. Sighing, Andrew shook his head in his white suit, accented by a red carnation. An attire shared by some of the more famous fictional action heroes of the mid-19th century. For him, it was considered a costume, but with as little an effort as possible to "get in the mood."

Looking at a few stragglers in the room, Andrew gave a shrug and found a full glass of what he assumed was champagne and proceeded to drink it in one sip. Hoping it wasn't synthehol, Andrew took another glass and headed for the dining room, hoping to make his entrance as inconspicuous as possible.

"You know," Serena said, moving with Reon toward the designated room, "this reminds me of going to to see holos with my older sister when I was young."

"I thought you only had a twin," Reon interrupted.

"Yes, but she is 5 minutes older than I am. Now don't interrupt when I'm busy reminiscing. She liked horror stories and things that scared her to death. I, on the other hand, liked holos with happy endings or lots of music, even comedy. We had quite a tug of war at one viewing, I remember. She kept dragging me up to sit on the chair and watch while people were eaten by giant insects, and I kept trying to hide behind the chair so I couldn't see anything."

Reon shook his head, "That explains a lot."

Serena punched his bicep with her fist. "Beast," she said as they neared the dining table.

Carlo caught up to them. "Never been to a seance before," he said. "Maybe I can talk to my Great-Aunt Josie and get her ravioli recipe."

Jade snagged a flute of whatever it was. It appeared to be needed in the festivities ... or, at least, everyone seemed to have one. She turned to the person next to her as they moved through the door. It happened to be Jasmine Collins, holding on to the same man with whom she'd entered the house. "I predict that things will become even more interesting than we expect. Shall we see what an Addams' séance can teach us?"

Gaden had already drunk one glass of a bubbly liquid, which he knew from his days at the Academy to be champagne, and he'd just picked up a second. He was still new to the ship and only recognized a few people. He almost went over to Jade, who he'd met briefly when he'd eaten at her club, but she seemed engaged at the moment, as did his colleagues from the medical team.

He continued to walk around making brief contact with a few people. Then he spotted the man who had brought the bloodwine. It looked like he had been talking to a few people. However, while there were still a few people around him,there was no conversation going on at the moment.

So, he walked over to where he was standing and said, "So, Carlo, tell me a little about this bar that you own."

Carlo smiled at him. "You realize I could talk all night about my bar," he said with an amused look. "Anyway, it's on Deck 595, and it's named after a police end-of-watch code. When they'd sign out for the day, they'd tell the dispatcher, "Unit So-and-So, 10-42," and the dispatcher would know they were going off duty. When I found that out I liked it, so I decided to keep it when I bought the bar, instead of being boring and naming the place after myself. I make the bar available to station security and their families, first responders, people like that when they've been on duty a long time and need to eat."

He paused. "You're Bajoran, aren't you? My place serves food from a country on Earth called Italy. That's where my ancestors come from. A lot of what I serve is dishes containing a tangy meat sauce and various types noodles, with cheese." Carlo wrinkled his nose. "It sounds awfully dry and boring when I describe it that way. Actually, Italian food is like a little bit of Heaven--or the Celestial Temple--brought to Earth, or wherever you happen to be eating it."

Gaden returned the other man's smile. "I think I recall hearing something about Italy when I was at the Academy, but frankly, I don't remember much about it. I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes, but I do like things spicy. I may just have to check your place out. As long as you don't mind serving a doctor and not a security person."

"Come on, you two," Ischemia said, putting each of her arms through one of theirs. "Time for the reason for the season. Have you ever attended a seance?" she asked, leading them forward into the room where most of the guests were already seated.

The Bajoran gave the bar owner a skeptical glance before turning back to his hostess, his expression neutral "I have heard the term," he admitted as he allowed her to lead them to the table. He sat down then, his eyes wandering to each of of its occupants, his hands carefully on the oaken top in front of him.

Having seated the men, Ischemia went to stand with her two sisters. Smiling, she said, "Now the fun begins."

 

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