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[code]Earlier, the Hospital[/code][hr][/center]

Okay, okay, okay. Nisha knew now, as the ungentle nurse used a cotton swab to fence with her uvula and tested the limits of her gag reflex, wasn’t the time to panic. She needed a plan. Another plan, actually. Plan one had been to stop the test. It was simple enough: she could swab the nurse’s throat with one of the Long Arms of the Slaugh and see whatever she could rip out until the nurse stopped swabbing. Of course, then she’d have to deal with being charged for murder, or potentially another nurse. She could just off that one too, but killing the entire overworked hospital staff wasn’t really a plan.

Neither was her second idea, which was to burn the motherfucker down. The third was to pull off the old switcheroo and swap the swab with a dummy one that wasn’t covered with whatever booze that was still lingering in the back of her esophagus. However, that plan was dashed because it arrived about three seconds after the nurse had finished shoving the swab into the bottom of Nisha’s stomach and gingerly popped it into the vial, cruelly adding a “There, see? Not so bad,” as Nisha resisted the urge to yak. That left Nisha with one option and one option only: she’d have to steal it after hours. Filing Operation: Spit Take firmly into the “good idea” mental filing cabinet, Nisha hopped off of the white sanitary paper and followed the nurse to the lobby.

Nisha watched which ward the nurse headed down after she had returned Nisha to her guardian. Ezra was in a conversation with a female doctor with straight, blonde hair that was in such a tight ponytail that just looking at it gave Nisha a contact headache. Although Ezra looked as calm as ever, there was a redness to the doctor’s cheeks and a wagging of a finger that showed their conversation wasn’t casual small talk. It came to an abrupt halt as the blonde woman held up her hand and walked away, her heels clacking as she left the lobby. Nisha watched Ezra stare after her, swearing that she caught a faint smirk on his face. 

Ezra wouldn’t admit it, but he had been smirking. He had just convinced Dr. Vaught to run some tests on the bloodsoaked knife he’d recovered from one of the cultists. Sure, Anne had been right when she said it was unprofessional, and unscrupulous, and, yes, even a bit uncool to put a friend in that kind of spot, but it was a spot Ezra knew he could put Anne in and that she would still pull through and they would still be on good terms. He just owed her dinner, and maybe a written apology. Smartest person he knew, but still a sucker for the sentiment. It’d take a day or two, and possibly three out of spite, but he should have the identity of one of the cultists soon enough. Anne had even promised to call him if anyone came in with a knife wound. 

[color=lightgreen]“She looked pissed. You two dating?”[/color] asked Nisha. 

Ezra gave Nisha a blank stare. He not only didn’t trust the young woman, he was also fairly certain he didn’t like her. After what had been basically an interrogation, their talk had shifted into getting to know a little bit about one another. Well, okay, it had been Nisha dominating the conversation and talking about herself for nearly twenty minutes straight. She was rude, seemed impulsive, and sounded from her choices in life that she was fairly self-destructive. Honestly, those bad qualities made him believe that perhaps there was a chance that she was his father’s daughter after all. James wasn’t one to control his urges. 

Regardless, Ezra wasn’t going to speak about his dating life with a stranger. He ignored the question and said, [color=darkgray]“How did it go?”[/color]

[color=lightgreen]“Great. Is she your ex?”[/color] asked Nisha, studying Ezra’s face for some kind of revelation. [color=lightgreen]“Casual hookup?”[/color] He blinked. She considered that to be a definite yes.[color=lightgreen] “Oooh, you dirty dog! Sounds like you’re a chip off of the ol’ block, eh? Like father like son, huh? Apple doesn’t fall too far from the—”[/color]

 [color=darkgray]“Oh look, I think that’s Arabelle,”[/color] said Ezra, rushing in the direction of some random woman and praying that the actual Arabelle would be released soon enough.

[hr][center][code]Now, the Vanburen Estate[/code][/center][hr]

Nisha finally understood the nature of Ezra’s pointed interrogation when it had just been the two of them in the car upon their arrival at the mansion. In fact, he had downplayed it quite a bit. It hadn’t just been a break-in, it had been a full blown assault on the mansion. Someone must’ve brought some serious firepower to blow a hole in the wall that large. Ezra made some quick rounds with her to give her the lay of the mansion and show her the guest house she’d be staying in for the time being. He even did the honors of introducing her to the handful of Vanburens that were still around, taking them aside to what Nisha assumed was to ease their suspicion.

In reality, Ezra had reminded them of what James’ policy was on alleged offspring and to treat Nisha like a guest, but to remain vigilant around the girl and be careful what they mention around her. Even when James was around to expedite the process he was always suspicious anytime someone came knocking about being a new Vanburen, and her timing in relation to the attack did little to ease his nerves. Still, on the miniscule chance that she was family or at least believed that she was then he didn’t want her first impression of the Vanburens to be negatively colored by the tension brought upon by the day's events. Although it was hard to tell between the exhaustive girl and his extensive family which one would give off the worst impression in the first place.

Regardless, it wasn’t long after Nisha had found herself settling in and turning the guest house into a guest home by tossing all of her shit around in a mess that would seem chaotic to anyone but her that she noticed a small group of rich marks gathering on the patio. She gritted her teeth and flared her nostrils with a huff. First day “home” and they didn’t even invite her to the winter cookout? Well, she wouldn’t let a lack of a proper invitation stop her. She’d just crash the party. Nisha rushed out of the guest house barefoot without even thinking to throw a jacket on over her purple tank. Nevertheless, she trekked through the snow to the patio without even noticing the cold, seemingly heated by her spirits.

Ezra gave her a quizzical look as she snuck in behind the others. He put a finger to his lips as Justin started to speak, silencing the complaint that was about to come from Nisha’s mouth. Her eyes widened as the kid went on about a cult that lived in the woods and about how they should fight them and rambled on about gods and goddesses and, holy shit, it looked like everyone was taking this seriously. A gleeful smile spread on Nisha’s face as the Vanburens started chiming in support of the idea. Either these rich people were crazy, or the hot asian dude was a brilliant swindler, or what they said was true, or a little bit of everything. No matter what, this was going to be fucking fun. 

[color=lightgreen]“Oh, oh! I can help!”[/color] Nisha excitedly jumped forward in front of the gathering of what were basically total strangers, waving her hand in the air like a know-it-all teacher’s pet eager to volunteer to show the class how to diagram a sentence. [color=lightgreen]“They don’t know I’m one of you, you know? So I could go in pretending like I’m really there to join the Horny God Cult—”[/color] [color=darkgray]“Nisha.”[/color][color=lightgreen] “—but really I’m not there for that I’m there to help you guys fight them and like I can drug their drinks—”[/color] [color=darkgray]“Nisha.”[/color][color=lightgreen]”—or set off a bomb or do something really cool to fuck them over while you all charge in like a couple of badasses and—”[/color]

[color=darkgray]“Nisha, hold on!”[/color] barked Ezra in a rare moment of visual frustration. He stepped forward, grabbed the bothersome woman by the shoulder, and lightly shoved her out of the circle. His tired eyes scanned the faces of his family, a look of reprimand striking upon those who’d spoken up in support of this idea, and then his face relaxed as he sighed. He pushed his hair back, rolled his shoulders, and resumed  his cool demeanor. 

[color=darkgray]“Why are we immediately jumping to the idea that we go in swinging? Like you said, Justin, they caught us unprepared and still lost. They didn’t get what they wanted, they were forced to retreat, and they took casualties while we only lost the use of our dining room until repairs are done and the bearskin rug in the entryway that, in hindsight, was a bit tacky. I honestly think the threat of violence would be better than actual violence, and I rather not go murder a bunch of people who might have family that might start asking question. So before we go galavanting off to assault what seems like a couple of losers who hang out in a ransacked Five Seasons maybe we could try brainstorming a few other ideas? Anyone?”[/color]

Ezra closed his eyes and tightened his lips as Nisha spoke up again, [color=lightgreen]“What if I pretend to join their cult but, but, but instead of kicking their asses I instead lead their leader to a mirror? And then Arabelle and I could pull them through and they’ll have nobody to follow, causing a power vacuum which will make them turn on one another and crumble from the inside.”[/color]

[color=darkgray]“That is, by definition, technically an idea,”[/color] said Ezra, as Nisha continued rambling on about something involving a car battery and jumper cables. [color=darkgray]“Anyone else?”[/color]

The [i]please[/i] was unsaid, but heavily implied.