Deck the Halls with Blood and Gore (Open)

[copernicus callahan]

The rain was falling lightly in the streets, muggle weathermen had been predicting clear skies. That was the sort of thing that made Copernicus Callahan's day, a pathetic sack of meat embarrassed in front of their peers... like a lamb stumbling into a hidden well as a wolf chased the herd. As incorrect as he was, Callahan could say that poor man made a delightful brunch. A little tenderloin hit the spot, giving the old cannibal an invigorating punch as he plodded through the streets.

Copernicus loved the French Quarter, its elegance and sophistication beguiled its murderous undertones. As the rain flooded into the sewer drains, Callahan stopped in front of a large French-style mansion at a small intersection. Knocking at the door, Callahan heard the magical clicks resonate as the door slid open. Inside was a long corridor filled with old wood panels and moldy wallpaper. "Oh I love the chills of being home," smirked Copernicus as he closed the door behind him and walked down the corridor.

The mansion was the heart of the Tarot, a location hidden deep in the heart of New Orleans. As a secret society, the Tarot needed a building that could hide their activities. The normal spells and charms were guarding the mansion, but there were more. Entering the first corridor was lined with bronze candle holders in the shape of gargoyles, Callahan was confronted with six doors. All the doors were wood, a faint brown oak color with a silver door knob. Picking the sixth door, Callahan entered another corridor.

The corridor was long, filled with steps going up and down several flights and terminating in a giant dark pit and lined with ebony candle holders shaped like coiled snakes. The cave that contained the pit was lined with bricks that showed only a single burning torch. "I am death, come to claim his coffin," Callahan stated clearly. The pit shuddered and the torch burned brighter, revealing a red glowing ethereal spiral staircase. A few minutes of walking up the staircase and Callahan arrived at the Headquarters of the Tarot.

[drusilla lefanu]

Drusilla lay on her stomach, draped across a dusty old couch, playing with a rat she had found in the cellar. She was bored, because it was daylight outside, and she could not venture out while the sun was still up. There was also Siddal's sadistic addition to the Tarot's decor, the silver door handles. Dru couldn't touch them without burning her flesh, so she was trapped until she was allowed out.

Today she was less lucid than usual, but without the violent streak that normally accompanied her more extreme bouts of insanity. She heard footsteps on the staircase and sniffed the air delicately. She smiled, recognizing that scent. It was hard not to identify. He smelled of smoke and leather and other people's blood and flesh.

"Callahan, my sweeting!" she called out. "Welcome home, precious one. Siddal is waiting within." She looked up at him as he reached the top of the stairs, and gave him a crazed smile. "Want some?" she asked, and held out the squirming rat to him.

[copernicus callahan]

Seeing Drusilla on that old dusty couch brought unpleasant and pleasant memories back to Copernicus. The woman was a vampire who had a nasty habit of being severely bipolar. One minute she was romancing and seducing the cannibal, the next she was attempting to suck his life force from his jugular veins. Cocking an eyebrow up, Callahan smiled slightly, "I do apologize my undead darling, I feasted on roast weather man this morning."

"Siddal eh? What does that vixen want with me?" Sarcasm bleed from Copernicus' lips as he spoke of Siddal. He held almost no respect for the woman. Yes, she was a good killer and Copernicus enjoyed that one facet, but other than that she was an icy queen of a woman. "Oh I do hope she has meat for me, it would almost make up for me having to see her."

[drusilla lefanu]

Drusilla giggled unpleasantly. Her laughter was childlike in its innocence, yet heavy with her true age. Several seasoned members of the Tarot, with many kills to their name had been known to be creeped out by Drusilla LeFanu's laughter. "Roast weather man? How funny! And yet you turn up your nose at fresh, wriggling ratties. You are so amusing, dearest," she said, and bit into the rat's scrawny neck. It squeaked in pain, but soon stopped struggling, only feeble twitches as its nervous system shut down giving any indication it ever lived. She sat up and peered at the cannibal, licking her pale lips.

"Sidd? I never know what she wants with anyone. She just tells me to go sink my pretty teeth into people, and off I go, chomp chomp chomp! But until then she keeps me locked up, keeps me snug in this dreary old place. Maybe she'll let you keep me company when she's done with you, sweeting?" Dru asked, batting her eyes sweetly at him. "She might even let me out! We could find some handsome boy, Creole cuisine... oh, it would be marvellous! I'll drain him for you, you eat him all up. Doesn't that sound charming?" She stood, and tossed the rat's corpse aside. Her movements were lazy, but within a heartbeat she was by Callahan's side, her pale hand gripping his shoulder. "Or we could nibble on Sidd... Give us both a much needed rest from her nagging. Up to you, precious one."

[headmistress gertrude siddal]

Gertrude despised New Orleans, even if it was the seat of the Tarot. The heat and humidity, coupled with the obscene amount of roaches were enough to drive the English-born woman to distraction. However, it was a necessary evil, and thanks to the enchantments on the building it was also perfectly safe and sound... providing no-one would ever be foolish enough to betray the secret of its location and protections.

She was holed up in one of the smaller rooms of the headquarters. After Ichabod's ridiculous attempt to leave the Tarot (and all for a filthy halfbreed Fae... disgusting!) she was debating whether or not to bring him before a disciplinary meeting. His infraction was certainly serious enough, but with the fae woman out of the picture, his loyalty to the organization seemed to have increased tenfold. Just last week he had recruited two more students for the Minor Arcana, and he had seemed to be putting all the enthusiasm and dedication he had for his halfbreed love into securing his advancement in the Major Arcana. It was a tricky decision. She needed Ichabod. He was more than crafty enough to talk students around to the Tarot's way of thinking, something Siddal had never found an easy task. She was chilly logic and facts, not gregarious chatter and charm.

She sighed. There was another important issue at hand, that of the Astronomy professor at the Salem Institute of Magic. The witch knew something about the Tarot's destiny, Samuel had let that much slip barely two days ago. He had been very quick to cover it up, saying what she had seen in the stars had been dismissed by more respected Astronomers, but Siddal had always known that Brianna had a gift for divining the future from the paths of the constellations. Such a gift could prove immensely useful for the Tarot, even if just to show what paths to avoid in order to better court success.

She heard her pet vampire speaking to someone, and frowned. It was unlike the LeFanu girl to be friendly. Perhaps she was hungry? Siddal couldn't recall the last time she had let the girl feed. Concerned that it could be someone important or high ranking, she got to her feet and opened the door to see exactly to whom Drusilla was speaking. Wonderful. Just bloody wonderful. She hadn't expected Callahan for at least another few hours, and here he was, ahead of schedule. "Callahan," Siddal said sharply, looking from Drusilla to Death. "We mustn't dally with halfbreeds. They can be catching."

[copernicus callahan]

Anyone not acquainted with Drusilla's powers would be terrified at her ability to move. Copernicus took it in stride, his eyes blinking momentarily as she appeared next to him. A quick arm behind her back under her arm, Copernicus leaned forward as if to give her a kiss but instead a smile cracked open. "Well I do declare myself Drusilla, you have a tongue for setting the lust of a cannibal ablaze. Alas, if you drain them dry I will need to bast it with something else. Blood brings out the real flavor of people."

"Siddal's blood? Heard she runs cold, like your kind," Copernicus said with a fiendish smile that switched between Drusilla and Siddal. Disintangling himself from the vampire, Copernicus glared at the keeper of Justice within Tarot.

"What say you Siddal?" Siddal was a powerful witch, one that even Copernicus would have difficulty subduing. Justice was blind and a cold, cruel bitch. Siddal and Copernicus mixed as well as TNT and fire and Copernicus loved to strike matches. "I personally think your blood tastes of cold piss and vinegar. Pickled in your own juices, I bet if I ate you up, your meat would just fall off the bone."

[drusilla lefanu]

"You need to start taking your meat raw, like Drusilla does," she cooed, leaning against him casually. "Nothing like a fresh, hot heart still beating against your tongue, the taste of fear still on it. Oh, it's like star music!" She smiled wickedly. "Drusilla's tongue has been known to set your lust ablaze in the past, sweeting. Or have you forgotten that so soon?"

He stepped away from her the moment Siddal spoke, and she turned to face the white-haired witch. If witches and wizards could be elemental creatures, Siddal would be a being of coldest ice and snow. Even the cold-blooded vampire felt her skin prickling with gooseflesh when Siddal walked into the room. She gave the witch a slightly guilty look and nibbled her lower lip.

It was hard to believe that Siddal was the youngest of the three present. She looked older than any of them, despite her deceptively youthful face, but her attitude was that of an ancient matriarch. Drusilla pouted and crossed her arms. "You never let any of us have any fun, Gertrude," Dru hissed. Her eyes widened at Callahan's daring taunts, and she pressed a hand over her mouth to supress a giggle. If she hadn't been bound by magic to do whatever Siddal commanded of her, she would have joined in the taunting.

[headmistress gertrude siddal]

Siddal would never admit it, even under torture, but she was jealous of the easy interaction between Drusilla and Callahan. Many, many years ago, when she was little more than a teenager, she had been engaged to a young man. A pureblood, like herself, from a respectable family. She had never been particularly fond of him, but the marriage had been arranged as a suitable event between the two families, and she was beginning to imagine how nice the intimacy would be once they were married. Before they could marry, however, he had been shot and killed by a Muggle during a hold-up in a store.

From that moment on, Getrude Amelia Siddal had vowed to never again let her heart give her foolish ideas. The only sure way to get what she wanted in life was to marry herself to her work and her goals, and to ignore romance. Still, sometimes she begrudged couples, even disgusting ones like Callahan and LeFanu. A halfbreed and a monster. Absolutely grotesque!

She looked at Drusilla with a combination of pity and scorn. Vampires were such vile creatures. Halfbreeds unable to carry wands, but able to prey on witches and wizards like common leeches. "Fun? The very notion! You are here to do as you are instructed, when you are instructed. Fun is not part of your job description. Understand?" she scolded, and then graced Callahan with a sneer.

"Better it taste of cold piss and vinegar than be corrupted with the blood of Muggle filth. You are what you eat, Callahan. Surely that makes you a Muggle? And you can keep your mouth to yourself, but what you choose to do with the halfbreed is of your own choosing. We have work to do." Her tone was so frosty that her lips should have frozen together. Very few ranking members of the Tarot were ever cocky enough to antagonize her, and it rankled that she couldn't administer a corrective Cruciatus Curse as she did with others.

[copernicus callahan]

"Someone was thawed out on the wrong side of the bed this morning..." Copernicus shot back. "I eat to live and I kill those deserving of the sweet all consuming embrace." No one would think that Callahan was devoted to his duty, his job of being the Tarot's Death dealer. He was their Grim Reaper, the keeper and reader of their lists and the final embrace that their enemies ever felt before they were sent to whatever afterlife they believed in.

Siddal was a beautiful woman, much like a ice statue with an iron interior and void of anything remotely close to a heart. Such brutality kept Callahan as her ally, not out of fear but out of sheer amusement. Callahan had never seen anyone with just lack of empathy for anyone (wizard or else) than Siddal. Yes, he was a monster but she was something far worse. Even a monster has a soul.

"You seem particularly agitated this morning. Tell me, did Byron and Sam get into another argument? As much as I enjoy watching those two fight... its like watching two paralyzed giraffes fighting on a windy day, its tedious doling out punishment."

[headmistress gertrude siddal]

Siddal gave Callahan a saccharine sweet smile while her eyes narrowed with loathing. If he didn't hold the Death card, she would draw her wand right this instant and attack. "And yet you won't kill a filthy creature like Drusilla here. Surely vampires are equally as deserving of death as the Mudbloods you feast upon?" she asked, and smirked coldly at Dru. "And don't think I won't give the order to have him chop your pretty little head off, LeFanu. Wait here. I may have work for you after Callahan and I speak."

That was Siddal all round - cold and cruel, even to those most devoted to her. True, Drusilla's devotion was not out of any love or respect, but out of necessity. She had utterly no respect or feelings whatsoever toward her protector beyond contempt. She really was a special sort of evil.

She waited for Dru to slink back to the old couch, sulking all the way, and turned back to Death. "I have found that the Devil and the Hierophant have their own unique methods of dealing with each other's shortcomings. It's ultimately more amusing to observe them tear one another apart." She stepped back, gesturing that he should enter the room before she. While she respected his abilities, she would never be fool enough to turn her back on him. "You know those two have despised one another since Byron tried to make Ichabod his slave? Ichabod pressed a crucifix to Byron's face... That's how he earned that scar he's so fond of. However, Byron is unrelated to today's discussion. If you will step in, I can brief you on what has happened."

[copernicus callahan]

Normally, if someone acted the way that Siddal was acting about information Copernicus would be worried. Considering that it was coming from her it was routine. The other Tarot members disliked Copernicus' company, much to his amusement when he deliberately showed up and made them all unease. He smelled of death, they knew it, and Copernicus cherished every moment he could shove it in their faces.

Walking through the doorway, Copernicus was confident that Siddal would not touch him. She was powerful but not stupid enough to tangle with Death. "I remember, I had a good round of laughs at Byron's expense over that. I even bought Sam a drink to commemorate the event." Blood from a vampire was toxic. As much as Copernicus relished the taste of human meat and blood he would never turn to vampirism or lycanthropy.

The personal quarters of the high ranking members of the Tarot was a room that was definitely a hold over of the colonial days. The walls were paneled with a deep reddish-brown oak with silver fixings halfway along the wall and at the tops and bottoms. It was eliminated by a single giant chandelier that hung from jeweled chains. Below the lights was a massive roundtable complete with chairs. The chairs were lined with velvet and emblazoned with a single tarot card, identifying the holder of that seat. "Oh lovely, I see they have cleaned," Copernicus said with slight amusement as he took a seat at the chair that showed off a hideous skeleton wielding a scythe.

"Now amuse me, beguile me even... excite me fiendish lusts like only you can my frigid friend."

[headmistress gertrude siddal]

Siddal fought against a sneer as he walked into the room, holding her breath as he passed. He smelled almost like the vampires - unnatural, like bitter metal and salt, the scent of blood. The difference being that the vampires smelled of old blood, he smelled of fresh blood. Neither was particularly appealing to her.

She allowed herself a slight smirk. "Yes, even I was quite proud of my protegé for that one. Byron's one treasure, his face! And Sam has spoiled it was all eternity. I don't know how the man sleeps at night knowing that Byron still holds a grudge." She had recruited Sam nearly eleven years ago, back when he was a scrawny teenager with a glittering future ahead of him. She had redirected his path, nurtured every dark instinct he had, and in many ways he was her twisted creation. He could have been anything, but she made him the Hierophant.

She took her seat at the round table, her chair carved with the symbol of Justice, the balanced scales. Justice, Judgement and Death had chairs that trisected the table, something Siddal was immensely grateful for. If she had to sit beside Callahan and smell that stench, which was amplified by the heat and humidity of New Orleans, she might have thrown up. She removed her velvet cloak and held it in her lap.

She scowled at him. She did so hate that he could tell she hadn't ever been physically intimate with another. To others in the Tarot, it would seem like a simple jibe, but Gertrude knew better. Callahan had this positively beastly method of knowing things. "Your foul mouth may impress Drusilla, but it shan't impress me. Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth until I bid you speak, Callahan. We have something of a problem with Samuel Ichabod. I am quite concerned that his loyalties may have changed. He has been associating with the wrong sort of people, and his attitude has been quite distressing. Have you noticed?" she asked.

[copernicus callahan]

"Shant... you know that using your proper English on me gets me all hot and bothered," Copernicus said with dripping sarcasm, his hand mockingly waving his face to cool off the imaginary heat. What sort of people did she expect Sam to associate with? This was a lad who had recently start a caffeine/alcohol centered diet to sooth whatever demons had infested his soul. The man was a simple

"You are mentioning someone who normally associates with dark wizards, vampires, and cannibals. Honestly, what other sort of wrong people could he be hanging around town with." Death would find any who betrayed the Tarot, all would take was approval from the Justice and Judgement and Death would unleash Ragnarok upon the unfortunate. "And no, I have seen nothing unusual. I have been tracking same rather fishing wizards using Gulfport to smuggle in charmed slot machines to undercut me. What evidence do you have to throw this accusation at our precious Hierophant?"

[headmistress gertrude siddal]

Siddal threw her eyes heavenward. The sarcasm was as heavy as the smell of blood, and if it wouldn't seem like she was actually affected by his vile tongue, she would have fanned her face to help rid her nostrils of the odour. "If I may continue?" she said pointedly, and wordlessly summoned a sheaf of parchment to her. She withdrew a photo of a red-haired woman who smiled happily up at the photographer, laughing and dancing in the bright sunshine. Siddal passed it to Callahan.

"That was Gabrielle Russo, former professor of Potions at Salem Institute, and someone I now know to be Ichabod's childhood sweetheart," Siddal said, obvious disgust in her voice. "She also happens to be half Fae. Absolutely sickening, a promising young man like Ichabod consorting with a halfbreed like that! She apparently discovered his involvement in the Tarot, and rather than follow our laws, he chose to send her away to Ireland. He also refused to at least modify her memory, fool of a boy."

Siddal shook her head. "I dispatched the LeFanu vampires to deal with her, and ensure she would never talk, but Byron decided to leave her in the Fae realm. Heaven only knows why. I have already punished him for this infraction. He is currently chained up in a coffin in the lower levels, and will remain so until I decide otherwise." She said this as casually as a mother would say she had bade her child stand in the corner for some minor rule breaking. The woman truly had no heart or soul, and it was chilling.

"Ichabod, hearing that I had ordered the Fae woman's execution, went after her. From what he has told me, he spoke to Russo in the fae realm, and found his advances spurned, so he returned home," Siddal said, and paused. She looked like someone had just slipped a slice of lemon under her tongue when she continued "But I know he is concealing something from me. He is a gifted Occlumens, and he is too cunning to take any food or drink from me out of paranoia that it has been laced with Veritaserum. He does not fear me, but he fears you, Callahan. You can wheedle the truth from him." She looked absolutely repulsed to admit this truth to him. The fact that Ichabod had no fear of her was astounding, because she could so easily command respect from students and staff alike at the Institute. Perhaps familiarity had bred contempt following all their years of working together.

She threw another photograph to him, this time of a powerfully built man, fair haired and cautious as he glanced at the photographer. "This wizard is Elijah Thorpe, professor of Defence Against The Dark Arts at my school. He is a retired Auror. He went on leave around the same time as Ichabod left to pursue Russo, and returned a week or so later. It could be unrelated, but I have my suspicions about Thorpe."

[copernicus callahan]

Copernicus listened to Siddal's stirring story of drama occurring within the confines of her school. He would never admit to Siddal openly, but he found her lack of control or involvement in the lives of her staff members entertaining.

"Love does funny things to people," he confessed after Siddal ended. Leaning forward, Copernicus arched his hands up and placed them under his chin. "So broken but not destroyed. Squeeze Sam for all he is worth and extract the truth. Sounds like fun, been reading about the torture tactics of Daniel Lo Pan lately I would love to try them out." The way that Copernicus spoke about torture seemed like a little kid wanting to play with a new toy, a shiny new one with voice modifier and sound effects.

Aurors were a separate breed entirely. Thorpe, if given to Copernicus, would not break as easily as Sam. Copernicus gave Sam 5 minutes before the poor boy would be revealing the measurement and size of his scrotum in 1989; Thorpe would take days, perhaps weeks to break. "Thorpe sounds like a right bee in the bonnet, best get rid of him immediately. Something quiet, out of the way so it doesn't arouse suspicions. If he is a retired auror he will be receiving a check from the good ol' gov. and standard protocol is to investigate any mysterious disappearances of their retirees."