[Vampire the Requiem 2E] Ashes, Ashes, That's All There is to Eat

[Naberius]

"It's  only in the early stages, mind, but I know somewhere that I can retrieve some of those rare books you enjoy so much. As a token of gratitude for your accepting me as your student and all the instruction you've given over the past decade, I plan on obtaining one of these rare books for you from right under the nose of the Catholic Church. Straight from the Vaticans secret library."

 

[Guenhwyvar]

"I see.  So you're going to Rome?"

 

[Naberius]

"That's the plan, eventually. I believe mastering Banes should come first, though with your insight and tutelage that shouldn't take too long. Aside from that, consider this me checking in. Do you happen to have anything that needs doing while I'm in town? A few associates and I have begun an investigation into the murder of a kindred but it seems that I'm on standby for the time being and have the night to myself. At least for a little while."

 

[Guenhwyvar]

"No, I have nothing for you tonight.  Enjoy your night off."  *Click*

 

[Naberius]

Darren gets out of the car, heads around to the rear door, puts his helmet and cloak back on and calls for a taxi

 

[Paioni]

The car arrives in front of a white building with a neon sign stating "Mortician's Inferno". Dante gets out of the car pulling keys from his pocket. He walks to the front entrance, and casually goes inside. 


"Home sweet home."


He walks over to the left side wall where a picture hangs, once moved a button can be seen. Dante presses it and a hole apprears in the floor. He begins to make his way down to the hidden basement, and the door shuts just as his employees begin to walk in, just missing their secret employer.


The basement is set up almost as a mad scientists laboratory. A preserved corpse is laying on a table with wires and tubes connected to it in odd but strategic places. Occasionally the corpse twitches.


"Its okay my friend, one day soon you will be back with the living."

 

[Naberius]

Once the cab arrives, Darren climbs in and gets comfortable. "There's a bonus in it for you if you don't ask questions." He says. Darren gives the driver directions the entire way, having him stop 2 blocks away from his destination. "Thank you for a swift and orderly transit." Darren says, handing the man 2 $50 bills. Darren waits for the cab to disappear around a corner before walking north. Cutting through ally ways and back roads, Darren arrives at his home, a modest 2 story affair of all unpainted brick and shuttered windows. The yard is well-kept and tidy. Making his way around to the front, he unlocks the (cold) iron gate and heads to the door. The door is a nice mahogany with a brass knocker and 3 locks. Taking out 3 silver keys, he opens each one and let's himself inside.

 

[Naberius]

Once inside, Darren re-locks the door, and takes off his helmet, sighing in relief. Turning around, he heads deeper into the house towards the dining room. The house is modern, but not futuristic like one of those fancy smart homes. The walls are a light blue but rather bare, mostly lighting fixtures and the occasional landscape. From the door, a hallway takes you past 3 rooms. The master bedroom, first door on the right. The spare room, further down and on the left. And finally, the kitchen. The kitchen is spacious and sterile, all bright whites and stainless steel. Darren heads over to the right and out another door, into the dining room. A large solid oak table sits in the center, covered in a stack of unopened paper plates and research notes. The black and white checkerboard floor tiles were tidy and clean and the room smells faintly of furniture polish. *I really need to stop coming in from the back door* Darren thought, as he made his way out of the dining area and into the living room. The first noticeable thing in the room is the large sectional couch against the far wall facing the second-hand plasma TV. A 50' monster, it was firmly bolted into the wall and sat on a stand for good measure. A coffee table covered in popcorn kernels and more research notes sat in front of the couch. Rolling his eyes at the mess, Darren walks over and checks the front door to make sure it's locked and turns towards the stairs in the corner. Next to. The stairs was his destination, the door to the basement. Darren opens the door and enters, turning on the landing light. He shuts the door and locks it, paranoia at its finest. Heading down the wooden stairs, he enters the basement which is filled with labeled moving boxes and old books, he walks over to the large rug by the wall. Lifting the rug, Darren exposes a trap door. He lifts the door, climbs down the ladder and flicks on a ceiling light and looks around. The lab was a mess. Papers everywhere, the smell of embalming fluid permeats the air and tables cluttered with beakers and all manner of research equipment. The only spot not the sight of a hurricane was in the corner where 2 armor stands and a cabinet stood. One stand held an immaculate suit of armor and a matching cape, both deep crimson with a golden dragons head emblazoned on them. The other stand was bare. This one Darren approached, hanging his cloak and helmet on it and placing his blades on top of the cabinet. Just as he began to turn around, the lights go out and a growl emits from somewhere near the ladder as the trap door slams shut.

 

[Naberius]

A large, fur-covered hand grabs Darren around the throat as he turns to face an unseen intruder and slams him back against the wall causing a spiderweb of cracks. “You realize you’re going to have to pay for that, right?” Darren says, calmly. “And can you please mind the claws, you’re going to tear holes in my favorite white shirt.”


A sudden jerking movement and the hand begins to shrink, the fur being replaced by soft skin. Grabbing Darren by the collar, the intruder pulls him away from the wall and forward, soft velvety lips meeting his own.


After a short embrace, Darren pushes himself away and sighs. “Elizabeth, please. You’re making a mess of the lab.” He says to the darkness, raising a hand to brush dust from his shoulder. A playful giggle erupts from near the ladder as the light turns back on. A tall, slender woman dressed in a blue tanktop and jeans and sporting a pair of pink Nike shoes leans against the wall running her hand through her shoulder length brown hair. “You’re no fun, tiger. How’d you know I was here?” she asks


“Tiger? Have you been watching spiderman again? I could never get into those movies.  A man with the powers of a spider? Ridiculous. He’d be shooting webs from his ass, not his wrists. As for how I knew you were here? You left popcorn on the table upstairs. Again. Plus I heard you breathing.” Darren responds, reaching down to pick up a packet of papers that had fallen to the floor.


“Ridiculous, says the vampire. To the werewolf, I might add. And this place is a mess all the time, not just when I decide to play rough.” Liz states, matter-of-factly.

 

[Guenhwyvar]

Meanwhile, at the Crossroads, Karl and Alec finished up their investigations, finding that Jonas regularly visited this club to feed, as did another kindred a few months ago. She used to go after young men, but then abruptly stopped one night.


It's about 2 am, plenty of time left in the night.

 

[Naberius]

Darren will head back upstairs and pull out his phone to check the time. "Only a few hours left, huh? Liz I'm heading back out. Important things to do and I'm burning moonlight." He says, punching in Dante's number and hoping for the best as he walks out the front door.

 

[Paioni]

Dante's phone rings and the sounds of the moonlight sonata plays. Looking at the screen the name "Darren" shows across. Dante sets down his scapels and hurridly takes off his gloves. 


"Yes, Darren?" Begins Dante. "Did you find out anything new?"

 

[Naberius]

"unfortunately not, I called to ask the same of you. I'm on my way to Elysium to report directly to the sheriff and see if there are any new leads. I'll give Alec a call after this to see if they came up with anything new. Will you be joining us or are you in the middle of something?"

 

[Paioni]

"Well, nothing that couldnt he held off. Ill meet you there."


Dante hangs up and places another call.


"Yeah, need a ride over to Elysium. Making a report. The Sherriff."


Dante opens a keypad and punches some numbers. A sliding door opens up into a small armored room. From there he pulls out a key and inserts it into a slot in the wall where a elevator door opens up. He rides the elevator which then opens back to the outside, at the back of the morticians office. A different car arrives shortly after and he gets in to make his way to Elysium.

 

[Naberius]

Darren pauses at the end of the driveway, staring up into at the bright moon in the sky. *A beautiful night for a hunt.* He thinks to himself, smiling. Darren dials up Alec as he leans against the front gate, hoping for good news.

 

[AcridComet]

Alec doesn't answer. He is a safe driver. Instead he hands it off to Karl, whom is being chauffeured about by him.

 

[Crocodile]

"Alec's phone, can I help you?" Karl answered with amusement as he watched the cars go by on the nightly traffic.

 

[Naberius]

"It's Darren. Did you happen upon any useful new information? Dante and I are headed for Elysium to report directly to the sheriff about what we have so far, will you be joining us?"

 

[AcridComet]

"We found out that him and some Jonas kindred went out to the crossroads. I don't think I'm going to be there. Got to check on our haven. Murders got me spooked."


(Alec is driving to his and Karl's home.)

 

[Naberius]

"Roger. And be careful. I'm cautious enough with just the death of someone random. If someone I actually enjoy having around gets killed, I'm going to start getting angry."

 

[Naberius]

Darren  will hang up, and hit speed dial 3. *Pretty sure Maurice lives close by.* He says to himself.

 

[Guenhwyvar]

Moments later, Dante greets Darren at elysium.


Karl and Alec arrive at their haven.

 

[Naberius]

The others won't be joining us for a while, Alec has a bad feeling and went to check their haven. Mine is secure, I was just there. Run into any trouble on the way in?

 

[Paioni]

"No, everything was fine. The over night employees where just getting back from lunch when i got there. Made it and out without them noticing. Should we find the Sheriff and see what he makes of this?"

 

[Crocodile]

Karl gets out and looks around a little warily. He didn't like this kind of nonsense with vampires being burned alive. He wished his mastery of blood sorcery was greater, having heard of rituals that could protect him or others from the fate of staking. He needed ghouls too, but then again he always wanted some muscle to be the hands that carried out his will.


"All of this seems worrying, I suppose we need to decide our next move after securing the haven. A trip to Elysium to see if anyone else has gone missing perhaps?" Karl offers as he pulls out the security card to access the elevator. Karl's contribution to their haven had been quite significant, having used his cult to fund an Inner Sanctum they could nest in safely and securely.