Gates of London [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

“Don’t forget the tea!”

​

The woman in red mimed the words to herself with a roll of her eyes. ‘All the tea places are closed, git.’ Not that Edwin would accept that as an answer. He had enough tea, too, but wanted a particular green tea blend that could only be gotten in the place where all the Chinese immigrants tended to gather.


Nothing seemed to have regular hours there. Red lights illuminated the area, glowing through the red paper. In truth, it was quite beautiful, and the scents were divine once one got out of the fish market.


Lucia had been planning to head out this way as it was. There was something hunting in this area, apparently aware that the British authorities wouldn’t pull a hair for dead Chinese people. Lucia, however, cared. She wasn’t certain what the creature was, but it was breaking her rules, and that was offensive enough to deal with it.


“Caede.” The word slipped her lips as she came to the door of the tea shop, and the mastiff walking at her side stopped. She had trained it in Latin, so that others wouldn’t be able to issue commands to it.


In she walked, and she smiled politely at the aging woman in the shop, as well as the younger man who was going to inherit it. This wasn’t their main business. The shop hid many things, cleaned money for them, but Lucia didn’t care. That was for the British authorities to deal with. She just needed tea. “I need a pound of the green dragon blend, please,” she told the woman, who knew enough English to understand this was a customer, and to know which blend.


As the money was exchanged over the counter, Brutus outside let out a bark. The sound of it was meaningful enough to Lucia to have her step back from the counter. She held up a finger, “I will be right back, one moment,” and out the door she went, lifting the skirts as Brutus looked whined to be allowed to run.


“Veni!” And off Brutus went, with her trailing behind. She was not as fast as the dog, but she could always manage to keep him sight. The heavy skirt was removed within an alley and let to fall, a mental note made to return to find it as she ran, now clad in leather pants and a corset-top, after the dog.


Unfortunately, neither she nor Brutus were fast enough to find the assailant, but when they arrived on the scene they did find a young Chinese woman half-out of an alley, torn apart.


There wasn’t a crowd around her. The crowd had clearly fled, didn’t want to be involved, and Lucia cursed them under her breath. Witnesses would be difficult to find.


She approached the body, hoping at least some clearer sign of what the creature was would be on the body this time, or somewhere near it. "No scent again, Brute?"


Brutus couldn't answer that, of course. He just trailed along after her to, of course, sniff the body. What scents he'd get, he would never be able to share.

 

[redletalis]

At first he hadn't been too eager to leave his home - his books, his tea-collection! - and travel across half the known world to England of all places for a mere rogue supernatural something-or-other that no one was quite certain what exactly it was. Even if it was killing people left and right and centre, with obviously no moral qualms about killing even babies. But in the end he had been convinced. The seduce of more books and tea had been too much. And, well, it would actually be fun to see how much "civilization" had progressed in the past centuries.


London was amazing. So big and so perfect for all kinds of supernatural beings of all kinds. There were so many kinds of people to hide amongst that someone with slightly blue-tinted skin wouldn't be looked at twice. Nor a person who was maybe a bit more hairy than your average human. But while it was a perfect place to blend in for hte peaceful, it was also the perfect place for the rogues. Three weeks in London and with eight murders having happened in that time, even Constantin was forced to put away his joy over new books and tea-blends and actually do the work he was supposed to do.


He wasn't short of clues. There were many clues, ridiculously many, almost too many. The problem was that those clues didn't lead anywhere specific. Or they did but the sheer mass and throng of people washed them away before he could follow them to their end. Like this current clue - the scent of.... of something that he didn't know what was and that he had never come across before either. He had followed this clue around for hours before a far-off scream barely reached his sharp ears. But even with vampire speed on his side the perpetrator was long gone by the time Constantin showed up.


And the corpse - a young Chinese girl - wasn't even alone. A young redhaired woman was with her along with her dog, and Constantin hesitated. He had heard about this woman from the other supernaturals here in England but he had, quite frankly, hoped to avoid her if he could. And avoid her involvement in this case. A futile hope obviously.


Well, there was nothing for it, then.


"She is, what do you English say? Numărul nouă? Number nine?" he said but stayed where he was. That dog looked like a bit of a problem and the woman rather trigger-happy, it was best to keep away for now. "That is very... unfortunate. Saraca fata."

 

[Lucyfer]

It was not long before another joined her in the alley, though this one would be no witness. His haste alone suggested he had been far off, and when Lucia looked up to see his face, it became evident he was further off than even a human would have been.


Then, she squinted. ‘I don’t know you.’ And that was simply not right. She saw no blood on his clothing that would indicate he had been behind this mess. In fact, he looked too put together to have been behind it. He spoke in a language she did not understand, along with English. His accent was unfamiliar to her. “It is, yes,” Lucia agreed with the English she understood.


Brutus had gone close enough to the body to sniff. When Lucia walked to his side, he growled—not at her, but at the stranger, daring him to approach closer to his mistress. Lucia didn’t tell him off. “Who are you? I do not believe we have met before, which is even more unfortunate,” she gave him a once over, then took a white handkerchief from its hiding place between her cleavage. She knelt and touched it to the blood. Edwin humored he could divine things from blood, so she would give him a chance.


She folded it neatly, offered, “I am Lucia Jamison, something of the keeper of things like yourself,” keeper sounded right, for all of its good and bad translations. “This is Brutus,” she gave a gesture to the mastiff once the cloth was folded, and then rose once again to be standing. “He bites,” people preferred to tell others that their dogs didn’t bite.


Lucia had no such qualms in making it clear her dog did.

 

[redletalis]

"My, how very înainte young people are these days. We barely met and you are propositioning me." Constantin shook his head in mock shame. "I am not here to be kept, draga mea, I am here to hunt the thing that did that." He indicated to the body with a gloved hand. "Imi pare rau- no, I see you don't speak my mother tongue so I shall use English as best I can. I apologise for chasing the creature into your regat, your kingdom? Is that the word? It was not my intention. I hope to catch it before this happens again, you need not concern yourself with this."


Would have helped if he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Stupid Council couldn't have given him that much, could they? He chose to believe that they hadn't told him what he was dealing with because if this creature was actually good enough, powerful enough to hide itself even from the Council, then that opened a whole new can of worms and none of those were good.


"May I approach the body? Or will your guard dog attack?" Constantin wasn't certain if he was addressing the woman or the dog. They were similar enough for him.

 

[Lucyfer]

The handkerchief was wrapped in a second one, and then returned to its former home to be kept safe until she could return to Edwin. She didn’t want to taint it with her own sweat, lest that ruin his divination plans. The occult was oh-so sensitive, if she heard his complaints right. That or he was just bad at it.


So many queer words flowed off the stranger’s tongue so nicely as she put that handkerchief away. Lucia wished that she could place the language more and more, but could not. She understood when Chinese was being spoken, knew Latin and French more or less fluently, and could pinpoint German, Spanish, and Hindi when it was being spoken, but this was not a language she had heard much of before.


From what the stranger said, Lucia understood that whatever this was, had come from wherever he was from. He had chased it here, and meant to deal with it—his problem, if she understood him. He did not want it to be causing her problems. She gave a nod at his word 'kingdom'. It was close enough.


They were on the same page there, at least. “Sede.” She spoke to Brutus. As her eyes looked down to look at the dog, they saw no evidence of fur. She kept hoping she’d find that—but then, these weren’t taking place on a full moon. It was folly to hope for a werewolf, unless it was an alpha.


Brutus sat down. “He will only attack if I tell him to,” Lucia informed, “But you may not approach the body until you have introduced yourself, and explain what dog you…,” then she paused, looked a bit amused with herself, and rephrased. Foreigners didn’t often get slang terminology, “explain why you are hunting a creature that is now, in fact, mine to hunt down.” Nine murders certainly made it hers, since this was in her kingdom.


She rather liked that phrasing. It’d be treason to repeat it, but she liked it.

 

[redletalis]

"Draga mea, how can it be yours to hunt, when it was mine before? I did not give it away. It is my task alone." Constantin stepped away from the shadows and into the weak light from the gas lights. It made no difference to him, he could easily see whether it was dark or light, but humans had this silly notion about being safer the lighter it was, the better they could see their precieved enemy. He didn't want to make this woman into an enemy, that would just hinder him. This entire silly thing would take more timeand keep him away from his books and tea.


He stopped a few metres away from her, out of arm's reach, and kept his arms and hands still and visible. He didn't have a visible weapon anywhere on his person. "But if you insist, then I shall tell ai numele meu. I am Constantin Voinescu. Now may I approach? Dawn is coming closer, and I still have many things to do la noapte- this night."


Little by little he would smoke out this enemy, and then he would catch it and kill it and use some more time on browsing books and tea-blends before he went back home to his library and stayed there for another 300 years or so. He liked that plan.

 

[Lucyfer]

Draga mea had to be a term of endearment. Mea at least sounded familiar, a possessive, likely a ‘my’ word. Draga just made her think of dragons. ‘My dragon?’ And Lucia shook her head to stop herself from continuing her examination of the language she didn’t know.


He stepped into the light, and it played on that almost-blue skin of his, revealing him to be without doubt a vampire to her. It was what she’d suspected, but the clues were only in fangs, ears, and skin tone. Subtle things, often hidden by the smart vampire. “Thank you, Sir Voinescu,” she managed to pronounce it as he had.


Lucia took a step away from the body, snapped her fingers, “Veni.” Brutus rose from his sitting position near the body, and walked calmly over to Lucia. “Sede,” and again, he sat. “You may examine the body,” Lucia said. She did not, however, move to leave. She wanted to see if he noticed anything, and did not think that asking him would get the answers. Watching him, however, might reveal something of interest, if indeed something on the body interested Constantin.

 

[redletalis]

He passed by her, catching the rhythm of her heartbeat and blood rushing through her veins, and made sure to remember it. This way it would be far easier to avoid or find her if the need ever arose. Like tonight. If he had known her hearbeat then he wouldn't have approached at all. This woman was bound to be trouble. All redheads were. Especially if they were female.


"I am no sir." He turned his attention on the corpse. The blood was tempting - he wouldn't have been a vampire if it hadn't been - but he had more than enough control to not start drinking like a newly born youngling. Instead he tried his best to filter the blood away and focused on all the other scents. Underneath the scent of the dirty street, the dead corpse, the polluted London air, and whatever else this poor girl had rolled in, Constantin could barely catch the scent of... well, he had no idea what it was. But it was definitely the same scent that he had been following here to this crime scene.


The claw marks and wounds, however, weren't anything that he recognised and he had seen a lot of them.


"Cum foarte interesant..." he muttered and straightened again, stepping back from the corpse. "I thank you, Miss Jamison- it is Miss, yes? I get confused about English terminology sometimes. Bonum vespere vobis to you both." He finished in Latin just because he could and nodded. Stepping around and past the corpse Constantin focused on following the scent through the London streets. It would be gone soon like all other times, but every time it would lead him just a little bit closer to his prey and that was enough for now.

 

[Lucyfer]

Lucia allowed the ghost of a smile to touch her lips at his denial of ‘sir’. He would have accepted it, if only he understood English things a little better. It was much better to be ‘Sir’ than just Constantin. He examined the body without further desecrating it, fortunately. He had enough self control, though Lucia suspected that already. He hadn’t jumped on the body when he came into its presence, and the blood was still fresh and warm.


“It is Miss,” she agreed with his words, “Lady is better,” she wasn’t a commoner. She could tell him it was Viscountess to be more precise, but that was more her cousin’s thing. At the Latin, she tensed just a bit. Apparent dislike showed as she narrowed her eyes. ‘Great.’ She did not truly think Brutus would follow through on an order to attack her, but he would likely cease an attack if directed to do so. “Mane bonum,” she responded in kind.


With that, she again snapped her fingers, “Veni,” she had to go get her skirt and try to look decent again before picking up her tea and returning to Edwin. She’d track down Constantin later through her other contacts—he must have reached out to someone supernatural, if he was set up well enough here, and he certainly looked like he was from his attire and mannerisms.


The skirt was where she left it, and it wrapped easily around her waist once again, held in place by a belt hidden under the fabric.


The tea shop was still open, but the two within insisted she had never been there, and charged her again for the tea. Though she paid, she made a note to see something done about that. She could always tip off the authorities to the opium trade the tea shop was performing as revenge. ‘But will that mean this blend will vanish?’ Decisions, decisions. Edwin’s ire might not be worth it.

 

[redletalis]

The rest of the night was a bust as he had suspected and expected really. It didn't mean that it wasn't any less irritating than the eight times before. Or the many times that this same thing had happened on the continent and through the numerous countries there. Constantin returned rather irritated to the townhouse he had rented not long before the sun rose. He made sure that the curtains were firmly closed and then simply collapsed into the bed to rest. He didn't sleep as humans did, but meditate for some hours. It was just as resting as sleep was for the normal human being. It also helped to lower his irritation and a cup of English tea took care of the rest as he settled into a high-backed chair and picked up one of his new books.


While he could go out during the day, it was much more difficult and straining than being out during the night. Besides, the sheer amount of people would hinder him in any sort of tracking that he might try. No, it would be better to simply wait until evening before going out. He would have to drop by one of the discrete feeding stations set up for the supernaturals who needed it, both for some blood and for information before he spent yet another night trawling through the London streets.


"Hopefully this time I might even avoid the redhead woman. Nothing good ever comes from redheaded female." He muttered as he opened the book and sipped some tea.


Good god, what a difficult life he led!

 

[Lucyfer]

The tea was dropped on Edwin’s desk, and with it, the handkerchiefs. He looked up from his book, to the tea, and then to the strange handkerchiefs. “What is this, Lucy?” He asked, sitting the book aside and reaching for the handkerchief.


A hand to his wrist stopped him. “Blood from our ninth victim. You said you could divine from it, so,” she released his hand then, assuming he’d understand well enough not to contaminate his own sample, “Prove it.”


The way his eyes narrowed and his expression soured showed how unhappy he was with the doubt. He rose, picked up the handkerchiefs, and started to walk off. “Elisabeth," he called out to a servant he just expected to be nearby, "make me a cup of tea and bring it to the arcaneum,” because he had to have such an elaborate name for where he practiced his magic.


Lucia smiled a bit, “I’m going out to see some of our friends, I will be back by mid-morning,” to sleep, of course.


Brutus was brought along with her and she imagined the vampire would go to other vampires. They didn’t like to be disturbed in the morning, but Lucia had never cared about that. They usually found a human to open the doors or other such things during the day, when she came calling. So it was that Lucia went right to the door of the vampire who was supposed to represent the vampires of London and present their issues to her, and she knocked on the door.


Brutus, of course, was right at her side.

 

[redletalis]

The door opened and a blond dandy stuck his head out into the shadows of the dawn light. He groaned when he spotted Lucia, and then walked back into the house, leaving the door open for Lucia as an invitation. "Do you know how late it is? This is far too late for you to show up! I was just about to head to bed too! Couldn't this have waited until a more appropriate time? Like in a week or two? I'm still not recovered from the last time you were here!"


Fitzwilliam Seymore, the 15th Duke of Somerset, threw himself in a comfortable chair and glared at Lucia. "Well then? Get on with it! I have to get some rest and I actually have to meet up in a meeting with the peers later today and that will be taxing and boring enough. What can I do for you today?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Lucia didn’t hide the amusement on her face from Fitzwilliam Seymore. He threw out question and complaint as she stepped into his home. She shut the door behind herself and followed after him to the room where they could chat.


She merely sat down on the edge of one of those ever-so comfortable chairs, and let her turquoise eyes meet his gaze, “You hid Constantin Voinescu from me, Duke Seymore,” there was no humor in her voice. She did not know for certain that Fitzwilliam hid this Constantin from her, but she found it was usually best to assume that he did.


The fire of amusement that had been in her eyes shifted. It held the calm of a low, flickering fire. It held the threat of losing that calm.


“I believe that I allow you to keep your position as Duke, something no vampire should be allowed to hold, because you keep me up to date on these matters.” Who was moving through the town, why, and who was planning to stay on permanently. “Please explain your negligence to me.”

 

[redletalis]

"Constantin Voinescu? You've come here about him?" Fitzwilliam Seymore groaned again and looked up at the ceiling as if it had all the answers. "Of all the things you're bothering me about, it's about that creature! Well, let me tell you something, Miss Lucia, there are many creatures in this world who won't even consider you a blip on their horizon, and Voinescu works for them. He is also probably one of them no matter what he acts like. Stupid bastard. There is nothing I could do to either hinder or stop him, nor anything you could do, so I didn't see any need to inform you about him. Besides, he was supposed to be done with his job two weeks ago. But here you are, telling me that he's still here."


He huffed and puffed and really wished that he could blow the house down. "I knew the Council was going to bring me even more trouble this time around. Damn. This is why I left the continent and settled down here in England. Things were supposed to be easier on this island, but no. Of course not. Not with Voinescu running around. This is not going to be a good day at all."

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Didn’t see any need.’


The words seared themselves into her mind, and the calm fire raged in her eyes. The woman herself did not rise with the anger, and Fitzwilliam was doing too much fast-talking to care, and bemoaning his fate in this world to apparently notice he had made a fatal mistake.


“No, it is not,” Lucia’s words were soft, and her offense showed. He knew better than to call her ‘Miss Lucia’, too, the poor fool. They were in a relationship of power, and he had forgotten that she had that power when he decided to make a choice about what was important for her to know. “For you are going to have to leave this island,” Lucia would move someone up into his position. She’d speak to the Queen about this later. “Do not force my hand to make it murder, Fitzwilliam,” she used his first name now, to indicate the formal relationship between them was over.


Severed. “If you are not gone in a week, you will be purged.” Lucia stood then, her business with the fool before her done.


It seemed her day was going to be spent instead deciding which lesser noble got to move up into the Duke’s position. This one would know that she made the decision of what was important and what wasn't--they would not take that decision from her.

 

[redletalis]

Fitzwilliam stopped his pouting and looked at her, turning serious as well. "Do you really think that you can throw me out of this land? Don't mistake your place of favouritism with the Queen as any real power. The Council on the continent won't stand for it and another vampire or creature will be sent to take my spot. England needs a supernatural ruler as well as a human queen. You are simply the guardswoman. Don't get above yourself."


He leaned forwards in his seat. "And you misunderstood what I said. From all that Voinescu told me he would be gone within the week. You wouldn't have had time to sniff in his direction, let alone try to snare him into your little plots. That he is still here is news to me as well, I thought him gone within the promised week as he had promised whether or not he had found his prey. This creature that he is hunting must be quite something if the Council are sending out agents against it. That is what you should be worrying about rather than your little protection scheme and payouts."


Really. Lucia's life was merely the blink of an eye in a vampire's timespan. And if Fitzwilliam went then she would simply find herself with another vampire ruler. If she was truly unlucky she might even end up with Voinescu!

 

[Lucyfer]

Fitzwilliam really did underestimate her. “You do not understand. I want a replacement for you. I know that it will be another vampire,” she knew enough about how this worked. “You will remove yourself from England. I’ll let the Queen and the Council figure out how best to go about replacing you. The Queen will inform the Council that their representative is expected to allow me to decide what is important, and what is not important, here.”


Even if the Queen and Councils wouldn’t officially remove him, a dead vampire was of no use to them, and that’s what Seymore would be if he wasn’t gone in a week. Everyone would know she did it, but she’d never let there be enough evidence to pin it to her. “I assure you, I am worrying about this creature as well. Things might have gone a lot quicker, had you only informed me of Voinscu,” two heads were better than one—not that Voinscu appeared to want help, but she wasn’t above stalking him while he was on the trail. Vampires had better senses, after all.


The red-head wondered how many others Fitzwilliam had hidden from her, and the thought put a sour taste in her mouth, though she smiled. “Do pack, though. This creature and this land is no longer your concern.” She was not to be convinced that he had any use to her.


With that, she turned to exit, though her own senses heightened themselves with the knowledge she had just threatened a vampire. If he wanted to attack to preserve his own position, she’d have to be quick to retaliate.

 

[redletalis]

"Ignorant mortals." Fitzwilliam sighed and simpy watched the woman go. He would have liked to wish her luck in her delusions, but it wasn't worth the hassle. She would discover her insignificance in the grand scheme of things soon enough. Instead he turned his attention back to settling into bed for a few hours before he had to be at that meeting with the peers. That was going to be beyond boring!


-x-x-x-x-


Gabriel waited until the sun started setting and the streets were mostly filled with shadows before he went out. Dressed impeccably as always he didn't bother worrying about any cads or cutpurses trying to rob him - the outcome of that was obvious! - and entered even the seediest part of London without fear. He was headed to one of the feeding stations, both for blood and for information.


"Buna seara, Romulus, I hope that you have some informații, some information for me?" Constantin said as he walked into the werewolf's opium den. "Also the usual. Sânge, and make it good. Not a drop from addicts."