She appeared again. Pale blue eyes haunting. Flesh clinging to her bones. Bruises masking her once-tanned skin. "Patrina. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't want this to happen. I just wanted to get you out of this shithole." Any of the normal musicality of Theodosia Zima's voice was pushed out by the sheer stench of desperation in her voice.  Yet her words did nothing to assuage the haunting, near-ethereal appearance of Patrina.<br/><br/>Instead, Patrina advanced towards Teo in the inky blackness, almost hovering towards the panicked young gypsy. Teo frantically struggled backwards, tripping over herself this way and that, her body failing her in her most desperate hours. Patrina lifted a hand and the elegant and flowy trappings of gypsy-hood turned against young Teo and she was pulled upwards. Tendrils of cloth wrapped around her form, twisting her limbs this way and that, their smothering embrace tightening around the nubile and slender body of her friend. Teo let out blood curdling screams, her struggles slowly ceasing as her bindings drew tighter and tighter. Patrina's face remained blank, though Teo swore she could have picked out a grin amidst the indifference of her friend's expression.<br/><br/>"Patrina! Let me go! Please! I'm sorry! I don't know what to do to make this right!" Before Teo could continue pleading, Patrina lunged forward. At first, she had the countenance and appearance of a vampire. Long fangs jutted out and her mouth opened wide as if Teo was her next meal. Patrina's jaw continued to unhinge, though, and it soon reached an impossible width, even for a vampire. At that point, Patrina's bruised body went completely translucent, her form morphing into some ethereal horror.<br/><br/>Though that figure of Patrina was only there for a few brief moments, the image was forever burned into Teo's mind. Maggots crawled across the skin of the figure, each as translucent as their host. Decaying clumps of flesh hung from the exposed portions of bone, and the tattered and bloodied remains of a gypsy garment clung from the rest of her. Teo screamed as the being lunged at her.<br/><br/>Teo awoke with a start. She was drenched with sweat. She took a few deep breaths and steadied herself. The dreams had never ceased since the death of her friend. Sometimes they would lie in wait for days or weeks even, giving Teo a false sense of security before dashing it with another terrifying vision. She sighed and took another deep breath, wondering if Patrina would ever truly be dead, or if her mistake would truly haunt her until her grave. Barovia certainly seemed the place for such a fate.<br/><br/>Teo wasn't able to contemplate the thought much further, as she heard loud commotions in the tavern both upstairs and downstairs. Drunken behavior was nothing new in Barovia - when you lived in such a miserable and precarious town. However, it was most often reserved to the occasional brawl or drunken romp. This was far beyond that - she doubted Arik would have let things this far out of his control.<br/><br/>She rose to her feet and pulled on her street clothes. Layers of flowing, dully-colored material was now draped over her slender frame. Her tattoos and the various assortment of rings and other jewelries couldn't have given her away as a Gypsy more. She stepped outside of her room and was immediately greeted with a scene. Upstairs and down the hall, she heard a commotion inside one of the rooms. From the sound of things, there were at least three people in the room, though she couldn't be certain.<br/><br/>She briskly walked down the stairs and saw an absolute shit show. Someone had opened the god damn door at night, though luckily someone else had the sense to barricade the cocksucking thing. She cursed under her breath. A vampire pooled up from the mist and was staring intently at one of the patrons of the bar. She counted her blessings that it was not focused on her and headed back up the stairs. She didn't bother looking for Arik. She knew her "friends" well enough. They had bolted the moment things had gone south without a second thought for her. She would have done the same.<br/><br/>She walked to the room upstairs, ignoring the gravity of whatever conversation had been going on between the figures inside. She recognized the voice of Ismark, but had no clue in the world who the others were. She could tell Ismark was uncomfortable by the hesitation in his voice. Perhaps they were prostitutes. It had been a while since merchants of flesh had been desperate enough to visit Barovia. She'd take any help she could get, at the moment. Night time made allies of them all, and she had no desire to end up on the menu of the campire down below. She could hear another man calling for one of the two girls, though she was unsure if they could hear him or were even paying attention.<br/><br/>She calmly but firmly rapped on the door and in the loudest voice she dare muster added "Some idiot opened the door and now there's a vampire below and who knows what else down there. If those are your friends, they might not be for much longer" Teo added calmly, though her hand rested at her hip, ready at a moment's notice to reach for the dagger concealed in her waistband. "Any plans?" she asked with her voice raising a few octaves, hoping desperately for one of them to answer her plea.