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Louie Greenthorpe is a vampire. He is living in the Greenthorpe Mansion,
on the outskirts of the town of Greenthorpe. He is the subject of local ghost stories.
Some children decide to explore the mansion, but run for their lives when they catch
a glimpse of Louie. Majo, a wandering jeweller, meets them and goes to investigate
the mansion. She meets Louie and feels like she trusts him, but is horrified when she
learns that he is a vampire. While trying to escape, she trips and hits her head,
losing consciousness. Outside, one of the children's fathers, Theodore Thatcher,
arrives. He learns of Majo, and enters the mansion to make sure she is okay.
Louie is leaning over Majo's body, and Theodore assumes the worst. In the ensuing struggle,
Louie kills Thatcher, and hides the body before Majo regains consciousness. When she does,
she finds herself unharmed and realises she can trust Louie. Louie decides he must leave
Greenthorpe, and the two depart together.
Kaz is a mercenary, and goes on a mission to steal data from a military base.
He is the bait, and flies his ship above the base, dropping bombs while his comrades
carry out the theft. The base's nuclear reactors explode, sending his ship hurtling to
the ground. When he regains consciousness, he sees his comrades are happy. When they realise
he is alive, one of them offers to kill him for a share in his wages. Kaz kills them.
Kaz goes on a vengeful killing spree against the Carrotus military. On one
morning-after-the-night-before, he wakes up to see a bag of money, indicating that he has been
hired.
Jargon Random is technomancer: he combines engineering with sorcery. He lives on
Diamondus, where a war is raging. One morning John Radin, a friend from his Order,
arrives at his door and tells him they must flee. The city is being invaded. Jargon
grabs his autocaster and some food, and leaves with John.
Tony Waterbeck, renowned racing pilot, is practicing one day when he sets off an old
Shellian defence system. Some Shellian fighters respond, and pursue him around the galaxy.
He decides to head for Carrotus in the hope that they will destroy his assailants.
when he gets there he finds he has to maneuvre through the Carrotus asteroid belt.
With his attention thus diverted, a Shellian shot hits his left wing, sending him
plummeting towards Carrotus. He crashes in an empty field just outside Greenthorpe.
He heads for a building he can see in the distance.
Verity works in a Tavern on Diamondus, for a rabbit named Eddie. Secretly, she is also
working for him as a hacker, supporting one side in the Diamondus War. Her town is a dangerous
place. Nobody knows who is on which side, and food is hard to come by. Every day, she thinks
about the poison in her medicine cabinet. She is on the edge of despair.
Tier is an Arcania Zombie. He is effectively invincible, but it takes a while for
missing body parts to grow back. He must feed on the living to prevent himself from rotting.
He prowls around Carrotus, looking for prey.
Thomas Bradhurst, a Greenthorpe councillor, receives a letter from a company wishing
to establish a factory in Greenthorpe. He finds out the land they want is held in a trust,
and sets off for Orleton to talk to the trustees. He is told that the land can only be sold
once the trust has passed to an heir. He leaves for the Carrotus Central Records Office
to find an heir. The trustees, not wanting to lose the profitable Greenthorpe estate, send
some thugs after him. They ambush Tom in a forest. He escapes, but trips, rolls down
a slope, hits his head, and loses consciousness.
Unfortunately, Theodore Thatcher has become a vampire. A TV crew and a group of marines
arrive at the mansion to investigate the rumours, and are devoured. The video makes it onto
the internet, where it is found by Schism. Schism is an organisation that preserves the
Masquerade, the system by which the general public is kept unaware of the existence of
supernatural creatures. Alexander Garand, a Schism agent, is sent to sort out the problem.
On his way to Greenthorpe, he is attacked by werewolves.
Diallo Kalu, a resident of Muckamok, receives an unsettling call from a telemarketer.
He subsequently gets into a fight in which he shoots his opponent in the leg. He calls an
ambulance. Diallo does not appear in the story again.
An unknown female rabbit is staying at an underground "monastery". There is
unpleasantness in her past, including her sister having developed a poison called Jade Dawn.
In small amounts, it dulls the senses. When aged and mixed with water, it causes severe
bodily damage. It is eventually banned, to be replaced by Cherry Blossom (see ch. 2).
When she first arrived at the monastery, she was disturbed by nightmares, and woke up
screaming. Eventually, she forgets who she is.
One restless night, she goes to the waters from which they all drink. She throws
herself in, and an undercurrent carries her to a seperate cavern, where Jade Dawn is being
poured into the water by three of her siblings. The Jade Dawn is eating away at her,
and they pour a substance over her to neutralise it. She escapes and tries to warn the other
siblings, but they do not believe her. She escapes into a lift to the surface, but a
Jade bomb is thrown after her. She reaches the surface mutilated and blind.
Icarus and Naomi were once lovers. Icarus was accused of killing his family.
Though he was found innocent, Naomi's father forbade her ever to see Icarus again.
Icarus and Naomi meet again on Carrotus. Icarus has been smuggling refugees away
from Diamondus. Naomi agrees to help him with one more trip, before he is to settle down with
her on Carrotus.
Jesse Aimon witnesses his house burning to the ground, his family inside. He refuses
help from his neighbour, Miss Savon, whom he knows to be a spy. Presumably, she started the
fire. Dawn comes, and Jesse leaves.
ShaH-li Felenzo Orbonzen is hired by Andrew Ricarden asa bodyguard. He is attempting
to exploit dreempipes fuel. Neither character appears in the story again.
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Louie and Majo learn of the severity of the Diamondus war and the impending arrival of refugees on
Carrotus.
King Jazz announces that Carrotus will not become involved in the war. He also announces that refugees
will be able to go to Medieval, Carrotus' first moon, and that camps will be set up in the Peddleburg woods,
to the north of New Carrotus, and to the north of Oakloma.
Louie decides that his mansion should be used to house refugees. He learns that Greenthorpe's council
has voted to tear down the mansion. He and Majo return to Greenthorpe to visit Thomas Bradhurst. They arrive
to find that Tom has left, but are attended to by Gary Parker, candidate for the governorship of Peddleburg.
Louie and Majo are apprehended by two of Gary's thugs. There is a violent struggle, in front of a hall full
of people. Louie gains the upper hand and learns who sent them. He and Majo steal two horses and head to
Orleton. On the way, they find and rescue Tom. They set off for Prestbury.
Normal transport between Diamondus and Carrotus ceases. Refugee ships are all that will be making the
journey from now on.
Kaz enters the employ of a battle-scarred individual, probably a rabbit. He is sent on a mission
with a turtle who he nicknames "burnt". His left arm is mummified, the other is burnt. They plan to divide
an alliance of gangs by framing one side for a Jade Dawn attack on the other. They go to Crystallis to get
the Jade Dawn, and end up leaving with the mutialated rabbit from chapter 10. They arrive at a city on
Carrotus where they abandon her before staging the attack.
Jargon Random and John Radin get into fight at the spaceport, then steal a private shuttle and escape
Diamondus.
Tony Waterbeck briefly explores the Greenthorpe mansion before heading into town. In a tavern called
"The Crooked Carrot", he asks if there are any spaceports nearby. He is directed to Oakloma. He leaves, and on
the way comes across Louie, Majo and Tom (Continuity issue: He finds them in the place they have just left).
Verity's lover Raphael comes to her tavern. He brings with him two blue lizards and a grimy rabbit, all
armed with fusion lasers. They kill Eddie. The rabbit tries to kill Verity, but Raphael intervenes. He is
killed.
A month later, Verity locks up her apartment and heads for a spaceport. In exchange for fixing their
computers, she hitches a ride with Icarus and Naomi. They are not sure whether or not to trust her.
Michelle, whose brother was killed a few days previously by a vampire in Greenthorpe, comes across
Tier. When she finds out that he can kill vampires, she gets him to accompany her. She persuades him to
infect her, so that she too becomes an Arcania Zombie. They attend her brother's funeral before trying to find
his killer.
Susan Bradhurst is ushered to a Greenthorpe Council meeting where they discuss the deaths of the TV crew
and the marines, and the appearance of Louie at the town hall. They agree that the Greenthorpe mansion is in
urgent need of demolition.
Tom wakes to find himself in a hotel room with Louie, Majo and Tony. He finds out that Louie is a vampire,
and is forced to accept that vampires exist. He is told of Louie's desired use of the Greenthorpe mansion,
and agrees to help. They return to Greenthorpe.
Susan and Tony investigate the site of the proposed Peddleburg refugee camp, and discover signs warning
of radioactivity. Tom finds a loophole allowing Louie to claim ownership of his mansion. Louie goes to the
mansion to deal with Theodore, and a struggle ensues.
The mutilated rabbit from chapters 10 and 15 is found by Erditine, who agrees to take her to Pneum
Arlik. Erditine names her Neoma and takes her to the Mills of the Giants. There, Neoma feels a stone gateway
and remembers that she knows this place. There had been magic creatures there. Erditine is killed by
a creature Neoma is unable see. The creature says it will kill her, but first cures her blindness.
Verity has now fixed the computers and they are on their way. Icarus is sloshed. Their ship comes under
attack.
Jesse is arrested under a false (but still weak) charge. The police are evidently corrupt, and when Jesse
tries to leave there is a scuffle. A fire starts and Jesse escapes. The building is consumed by flames, and
Jesse leaves.
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The story so far...
We learn that Louie was "killed" by a vampire called Estella.
Louie wins the fight with Theodore, finally decapitating him. He rescues Alexander Garand. When Alexander
learns who he is, he points his gun at him. The gun is loaded with miniature stakes. He changes his mind,
and Louie knocks him unconscious.
Gary Parker arranges a fake job interview with a young lady, who he kills. It turns out he is a vampire.
Jargon and John arrive on Carrotus and part ways. Jargon uses his autocaster to make a companion
robot from his old robot's CPU and crashed spaceship junk.
Verity realises that Naomi's ship is trapped in a synthetic orbit around Diamondus, the apparent distance
of the planet a mere projection. They return to the surface of Carrotus. They see the burnt-out shell of the
police station in which Jesse was held captive. They go to a tavern (The Marinated Pearl) where they are
approached by Jesse. Verity thinks that he is Jonathan, Jesse's father, and is somewhat less than pleased to
see him.
Michelle and Tier come across a dead werewolf and a guy who tries to kill them with a "cookie cutter".
Tier kills him. Tier eats the werewolf and Michelle eats the guy. They head off for Greenthorpe again,
and eventually reach the mansion.
Gary kills his grandmother, who has been donating money to his campaign from her secret stash.
Louie takes Alexander to the Bradhursts' house. Louie tells him that Theodore has been dealt with.
Alexander tells them of the Masquerade.
While they are cleaning up the mess at the Greenthorpe mansion, Michelle arrives. She demands to see
her brother's killer, and learns that he is dead and buried.
The creature makes life very unpleasant for Neoma. Something tears through Neoma's skin, and the creature
forces Neoma to look at the words she has carved: Her name, "Estella". Neoma remembers that she had once been
called Yakira. Two creatures, one white, one brazen, appear and fight. Something emerges from the surrounding
forest and engulfs Estella. The next thing Estella knows, she is running towards Greenthorpe mansion.
Jesse's father was a general, who has done something unforgivable towards Verity and some unspecified
others. Verity is forced to accept that Jesse may not be Jonathan. Icarus realises that Jesse was involved in
the police station fire. Verity reveals that Jonathan was responsible for the deaths of Eddie and Raphael.
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The story so far...
We learn that Estella loved Louie. She left him for his own good.
Alexander Garand reveals that Gary Parker is powerful in the underworld, and that even the werewolves
worship him. There is a great enmity between the werewolves and the vampires.
Gary Parker is associated with the trustees of the Greenthorpe estate. Gary's plans are coming together.
His inheritance from his aunt has made him a multi-millionaire.
Louie, Tony and Tom go to inspect the mansion. A lot of progress has been made. As they leave, they
come across Yakira. They take her to Susan, and Louie promises that he won't let any harm come to her.
Icarus forms a plan to escape from Diamondus: Coat the ship with Tetracolyhydroxide. It is a controlled
substance also used as a hallucinogen. It is only available on the black market, and at a high price.
Jesse obtains it for them. As he leaves the place of purchase, the lizard who sold it to him reaches for the
telephone.
We learn that Verity is going to Carrotus to be bitten by Louie.
Tier is feeling left out. Tom gets him to fill out citizenship papers so that he can vote. Tier recalls
how he became a zombie: He was in battle, and zombies entered the fray.
Refugees start filling up the Greenthorpe mansion. Gary Parker wins the governorship. Yakira reveals her name and the name of her assailant.
The group in Greenthorpe is divided over whether or not to kill Gary Parker. Alexander decides that it is their problem, and opts to return to Schism headquarters.
Tony, while tending to Yakira, gets some jade Dawn on his hand. When he tries to rinse it off, it makes his entire hand bleed. Nobody can identify the substance as Jade Dawn.
Michelle and Tier reveal that they can sense hundreds of werewolves surrounding Greenthorpe: Gary Parker is seeking revenge for his defeat there in the election. The refugees barricade the Greenthorpe mansion. Alexander decides to stay. Tom tries to call the townspeople to arms, but only four people show up.
We find out how Gary became the monster he is.
Adrian, who was in the police station Jesse burnt down, is being questioned. Adrian is an experienced spymaster, working for the government. He becomes a renegade to get his revenge on Jesse.
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The battle for Greenthorpe begins. After a long battle, in which Tony is seriously injured. The werewolves lose.
Louie heals Yakira. Majo walks in while this is happening, and thinks that he is ravishing her.
The victory is followed by a modest but long-lasting party.
We learn that during his period of solitude, Louie was visited by a mysterious old man.
Following a botched TV news report, the lawyers Cholmondely & Smith disassociate themselves from Gary Parker, but he kills them.
It is implied that, at some point, Tier spent 154 years trapped underground.
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Gary Parker is visited by Estella, who proposes an alliance.
Louie, Tier, Thomas and Yakira attend a dinner party being thrown by Gary.
Tier infiltrates his office and discovers a copy of the Chronicles of Bruhn.
Bruhn was a mythical father of all that is evil. He was killed, but his soul
was imprisoned beneath the planet's surface. Tier knows the book is one of only
two left in existence. He then finds a room with a sacrificial altar. He takes
some old drawings from a wall. He, Louie, Tom and Yakira have to fight their
way out. They conclude that Greenthorpe is no longer safe, and decide to flee.
Alexander receives a distress call from Schism HQ. He returns to his HQ
with Tony, Majo and Michelle. The entrance is located in the village of Tahamo,
where Majo spent several months. She visits her auntie Gerda, while the others
go to the Schism sucker tubes. They enter the HQ to find that everybody is dead,
and that whatever killed them all is still present.
We learn of a friend Thomas had at university called Jay.
Alexander, Tony and Michelle defeat the monster in Schism. Alexander
declares that he is finished with the group. Majo finds her old lover, Keith,
and tells the others that she plans to stay in Tahamo.
Susan refuses to leave Greenthorpe. Louie, Tier and Yakira leave without
her and Tom, but a werewolf is waiting for them outside the Bradhursts' house.
After prolonged exposure to Tetracolyhydroxide, Icarus has a strange
series of experiences.
Adrian decides to pursue Jesse off Diamondus. Jesse fails to find out
why Verity hates his father. He tells her that Jonathan and his family are dead.
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Chapter 45 (Part 1): Crossroads
Thomas turned away from Susan, planning on running down the stairs and out of the house as fast as he could.
Susan grabbed him by the arm and gave a short tug at his sleeve.
"You are not planning on going out there are you?" Susan tried to give him an angry look, but her fear took the upper hand.
Thomas was determined to aid his friends and he pulled his arm free from her grip.
"I'm going Susan. Go to the basement and hide until all of this is over..." Susan wanted to interrupt him, but he shook his head.
"Not this time Susan, you'll listen to me for a change."
His eyes showed no sign of fear and she knew there was no point in trying to stop him, she passed Thomas and descended the stairs as she whispered for him to be careful.
Susan entered their small basement, a washing machine whirred in the corner. The small opening between it and the wall provided her with a place to hide.
She took a quick glimpse out of the window and her eyes grew wide as she saw a severed arm lying inches away from it.
"This is madness."
Thomas stepped outside, Louie's body was resting on the ground, his fur covered in the thick mud that had formed after the rainfall.
His eyes were open he did not move a muscle. His stomach was ripped open with one clean cut and his arm had been forcefully torn from his body.
Tier's head rolled to Thomas' feet. The rest of Tier's body was trying to fight of the Werewolf with a combination of ballet and 'You stepped on my toe.'
"Oh god, we're doomed." Thomas whispered.
Tony and Michelle had accepted Majo's invitation to warm by her fire, clean themselves up and rest.
The warm water felt like eternal bliss after the hardships they had to endure. Tony's worries ran down the sink as he closed his eyes.
He heard Michelle enter the bathroom. She stripped down from her blood soaked clothes and looked at herself in the mirror above the sink.
Her fur was hanging loose in several places to reveal deep, black gashes. She slowly brushed over them with the top of her fingers, she grind together her teeth waiting for the incoming signals of pain that would not come.
Tony's hand came out from behind shower curtain, he felt around for the towel Majo had provided him with. He wrapped it around his waist and got out.
Michelle gave him a faint smile and looked into the mirror again. She sighed and rested her hands on both sides of the wash basin and looked down at the droplets of blood that made their way down her body.
Tony stood behind her, looking over her shoulder at the same body, looking past the deadness he saw beauty and insecurity.
"I think..." He wanted to start a sentence, but he could not think of the right words. Their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror and she turned around to wrap his arms around him and kissed him.
Alexander was miles away from any kind of comfort, he walked through plains and meadows. For miles and miles with no clear purpose.
Hours after he had left the village he sank down in the tall grass of a field and looked up at the clear, dark sky.
The two moons lit up the area around him, he calmed down and the anger in him cleared up to make place for sadness.
He had been cursing his co-workers for their ostentatious nature.
All he could think about now were their good attributes and the pictures of their families adrift in the seas of blood.
His hands clutched several patches of grass and ripped them out. He has lost everyone he was even remotely close to in one night.
He could taste the bitter tears that ran down his cheek and entered his mouth.
A bright light flashed in the night sky.
The ship shook on all sides as the crew entered the cockpit in shock.
Verity avoided all contact with Icarus' eyes out of shame over something that was not her fault.
Icarus sat down in the chair next to her and looked over the controls and the on screen status report. The shields had been completely knocked out after the first four hits.
The fifth shot had hit the ships stabilizers and they were now being pulled down to the planet by it's gravitational field.
Verity brought the main defenses of Carrotus on screen. 'I'm afraid we ran into some technical difficulties. Our estimate was 80 kilometers, seemed we were a bit off."
Icarus shook his head silently as he saw another blast of energy was released from the planet's surface.
It made impact as they entered the planet's atmosphere. The right side engine shook heavily and would not last much longer.
Naomi pushed Jesse down in the seat and put on his safety belt. He was incredibly afraid and he pushed his back into the chair with so much force that he was afraid he might throw it out.
"We're going to crush into the planet." Verity said stating the obvious. This wasn't the way she expected this to end, she wanted to find the vampire that would embrace her, but life often took unexpected turns.
They were so close to the planet right now and Icarus tried his best to keep his ship under control. With an incredible noise the right side engine broke off and it crashed down into a nearby field shooting up dust, sand and grass into the sky.
Only ten seconds to impact.
The werewolf laughed at the sight of Thomas in front of him. "Look at this, I just defeated a vampire and a zombie. And now I have to take on an accountant. Oh the horror." His voice was deep and ancient.
That's exactly what the young man was thinking. What on earth was he supposed to do? Take out his pen and write him to dead?
"Well, I'm going to..." Thomas wanted to start a brave speech, but before he had a chance to even finished his first line the beast came running at him with both his claws and fangs bared.
Several things flashed through his mind 'Why did I get involved in all of this? Will Susan be alright? Why didn't I bring a clear pair of shorts?"
There was one thing the werewolf had forgotten however, Thomas' wife who would always stick by his side, no matter what.
Susan slammed an iron rod into the wolf's teeth and it, being caught by surprise, fell down to the ground groaning in pain.
She hit it over the head a couple of times after this, until the beast had stopped twitching.
She ran over to Louie first, seeing as how he was the only one with both supernatural powers and a clear head.
"Please, wake up." She took his arm and slapped him across the face with it. "Just wake up will you, you have to get us out of this mess." She shouted.
The wolf groaned, making notions of getting up soon.
Louie looked over at Susan, giving at least a sign of consciousness. "You have to get up, he's going to rip me and my Thomas apart if you don't."
The vampire twitched and took his arm back and placed it against the hollow socket in his chest where it once used to be, it fused together as if it were metal melted together under high temperature.
Susan looked at him in awe as he stood up and kicked Tier's head back to it's body. "I need a little something to get me going Susan." He said.
She jumped as he looked at her with blood red eyes. "I need blood, please get me some soon before I'll do something I'm going to regret."
He opened his hand and revealed his sharp claws after which he reached out his arm for her neck. "Now!" He shouted and he had the hardest time to keep him from grabbing her tr oath and devouring her.
Thomas shoved a fat rat in his mouth and he devoured it in an instant. The color returned to his face and he looked over at the wolf which was crawling up and gave him a frightened look.
"You're not going anywhere." He grabbed the wolf by the skin of the neck and pushed it against the wall of the house. The bricks cracked as the wolf wash pushed against it, bleeding and groaning.
"How many of you do we have to kill before you get the message Sebastian?" The beast gasped for breath and it's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.
"Stop it, just stop" Susan shouted and Louie released his grasp on the wolf immediately. "Can't you see what you're doing? You are no different from him."
The vampire stood in front of her and it felt like he had grown inches and cast a deep, dark shadow over the fragile woman.
"Thank you for saving us however, that was really kind of you." She said with a small voice.
Tier had picked up his head and placed it on top of his body just in time to see the wolf was getting back up again, on his way to bury his paws inside of Louie.
He had pulled his arm off and smashed the sharp end off it through the werewolf's brain. "Stay!" He shouted to the beast and giggled over his own terrible joke.
Yakira picked up her backpack and threw it over her shoulders, she was ready to go and there was no doubt in her mind that Susan hadn't changed hers.
They would all be getting out of here tonight and she was re leaved that they would all be leaving togheter.
Louie wanted to be sure however. "Do you still feel like staying behind Susan?"
Susan walked inside and emerged from the house minutes later with both her bags and Thomas' packed.
She took one more look at her house and burst into tears. "I'm sorry I've been so stubborn, I really am."
Tier took another sip from a small flask of liquor he had taken from their house and raised his shoulders Apathetically when he noticed Louie's disgruntled look.
"We'd best get to Peddleburg station and take the train to Earian, I know a place over there where we can hide and where no one would ask questions." Louie looked at his traveling companions, who wear all incredibly tired and beat.
Either that or drunk. "So you are suggesting we run and hide?" Tier smelled of liquor and gave him a half cross-eyed look.
"Yes, for now. Untill we can come up with a better plan." He grabbed Yakira by the hand and she could feel that he was trembling with fear over what was to come.
Her vision was improving and she was sure she'd be fine without him guiding her, but she did not want to let go off his hand and walk beside him quietly into the night.
Tony woke up the next morning with his arms around Michelle and to the smell of fresh coffee.
Michelle smiled as Tony kissed her on the cheek, she turned over to him and held him tight.
"You made me feel alive again last night." And she was so full of love and lust for life again.
Tony got out of bed and grabbed his pants as he heard a noise downstairs at the front door.
Someone came running upstairs and almost kicked the door to the spare bedroom open. Majo averted her eyes when she saw the two of them weren't dressed yet.
"Hurry up and get dressed" She said out of breath. "There's police and special armed forces and by the looks of it, they are here for the both of you."
Tony catched his clothes and got into them as fast as he could, almost ripping apart his shirt.
Michelle got dressed and grabbed Tony by the arm. "You have to get out of here, let me..." Tony put a finger on her lips.
"I'm not going anywhere without you." He kissed her again, maybe for last time, but he did not want to think of that.
Majo interupted them. "Someone ratted you out. The lot of you are all over the news. They say you are plotting to assassinate Gary Parker."
The light in the sky grew bigger and Alexander could make out the outlines of a ship that came rushing in towards the planet's surface at high speed.
The engine broke apart from it and he started running towards the lake, it crashed into the ground and the enormous force of the collision made him fall face down into the grass.
He could count himself lucky, if he had not noticed it sooner, it would have crushed him and reduced him to a sticky pile of bone and fur.
Alexander got up and followed the ship, whoever was in it would need help. And he was not about to let anyone else die today.
Naomi faced the back of Icarus chair and wanted to shout out to him that she loved her when the ship slammed into the body of water.
Water shot out of the lake and almost washed Alexander away if he hadn't grabbed on to a tree in time. The back of the ship stuck out of the water and was slowly sinking down.
There was no time to panic and hesitate and Alexander dived into the water after the ship to see if there were any survivors.
"Oh god, we have to get out of here. Icarus, Icarus please wake up." Verity shouted as water started running into the ship through cracks in the window and outer hull that were caused by the impact.
The cracks in the window grew larger every second and she knew it wasn't long before it would give in to the enormous pressure. She slapped Jesse in the face to get him back to his senses but it was of no use.
The safety belt on his chair had snapped and flung him through the cockpit. Judging by several stains of blood against the far wall he had smashed into it and then into the ground.
Jesse breathed heavily and grind his teeth together not to shout out in pain. "Please Jesse." Verity spoke softly, the other two were rendered unconscious but still breathed and had been blessed by Carrotus.
Only a small cut in Icarus' forehead and several bruises on Naomi's arms and legs, but they had bumped their heads against the back of the seats and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wake them up.
"Please, someone help us." Verity needed an extra pair of hands to get her new found friends to safety. If she opened up the door, she would only be able to swim out with one of her friends and the ship would sink to the bottom of the lake.
Out of her reach, leaving two of the people that got her to Carrotus to a cold, watery grave.
Alexander swam into view and Verity shot up. "Help us, help us!!" She shouted and knocked on the front window.
The window cracked and a large hole appeared, a stream of water ran into the cockpit, Alexander tried to swim away but he couldn't and he got caught in the stream of water that entered the ship like a small waterfall.
He was pulled towards the ship and the window caved in under his pressure. The cockpit would now be filled to the brim in a matter of seconds.
"They are all still alive, you have to help me save them." Verity looked around panicked. She usually kept a cool head, but that is what being stuck in a sinking ship minutes away from dead does to you.
"You grab her." He said as he pointed at the unconscious Naomi. He grabbed Icarus and Jesse and tried to stay above the water which was now up to his mouth.
He glanced over at the door and shouted for Verity to open it, swallowing the fresh water of the lake in the process.
The young girl let go of Naomi's body for a second to push the door open, she came up with her moments later.
"We can't get out." She coughed up some water she had accidentally swallowed. "It's no use, we're trapped in here."
Tier silently walked in front of Thomas and Susan. Followed by Louie and Yakira.
None of them said a word as they walked to Peddleburg train station.
It would take them another hour, but the cool and calm night put everyone at ease. And would help get Tier over his drunken state a little easier.
He hated all of this responsibility, he had his fair share of it in the past. Tier just wanted to be left alone, but he got in to this to deep to turn back now.
Yakira's sight returned ever so slightly. She could now make out the outlines of the people near to her. Susan's slender body holding her hand and her husband Thomas, his silver-rimmed spectacles gave a little sparkle in the moonlight.
Thin and fragile, yet he sounded so strong and confident in the midst of all of this. And he was always there for her.
Tier, the arcane turtle with the unique scent, she thought of how lonely he must've felt in the ages passed.
And the there was her protector, tall and determined and always on the look out for everyone but himself. She felt sorry for him, she just felt how scared he was and she knew he knew so, so much more then he was telling them.
She thought he must've been quite handsome as well, she had stared at his face trying to see, but her vision was too blurry still. A
And when he turned to look at her she quickly looked away and pretended to be pre occupied by the blurry trees in front of the dark background.
They arrived in Peddleburg early in the morning, right on time to catch the next train.
Thomas wanted to buy five tickets but Tier stopped him. "You might want to read this first." He said as he pushed the newspaper under Tom's nose.
The article showed holographic images of him and the other people he had been involved with over the past few months.
"This is terrible." Thomas gasped. "I know." Tier said. "It's a terrible picture."
"Step aside m'am or we will enter your house by force." A tough looking turtle covered in metallic armor stood in front of Gerda.
The entire village was overrun by men in armor and hovercraft's. "You are harboring two highly dangerous criminals suspected of assassinating Governer Parker. If you do not step aside, we will use violence."
She abided but shot the man a mean look. "Don't be to harsh on them."
He entered the small house with six other turtles while the rest of them spread out to cover the grounds making sure to leave Tony and Michelle no means of escape.
The turtle demanded that the last man closed the door and leave Gerda standing outside. "If they won't come quietly, you'll shoot them without any hesitation?"
They moved up the stairs, guns ready to be used if the occasion arised. "Tony Waterbeck and Michelle Crompton. We have a warrant for your arrest. Come with us quietly and no one will get hurt."
Michelle jumped out from behind a door aiming Tony's blaster at the turtles. "Wrong, there's going to be a world of pain awaiting you."
She opened fire and shot at the commander. She hit the metallic armor he was wearing and the bullets bounced right off of it.
He aimed his gun at Michelle and fired, but the agile rabbit managed to evade the hail of fire from the unit and jumped into the bedroom where Tony was waiting.
"We can't get out through the window." He said as he pointed to the three units waiting outside.
"You're not suggesting we'd surrender, right?" Tony looked at his feet with nothing much to say. "We're outnumbered at least fifty to one, I'd say we'd better go with them and make a run for it when the odds are a bit more even."
She kissed him and shouted for the commander to stop firing as she kicked her gun over the floor and out of the door for the unit to see.
Tony and Michelle stepped out of the room with their hands in the air.
"I think you made the right choice." Auntie Gerda walked into view.
"Thank you for turning these fugitives in ma'am." The commander told her.
"I'll do anything to keep my little girl save from these madmen."
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The man from Earian (Part 2)
Louie was awakened early in the morning by the sound of the creaky crypt door. Tobias entered with a cup of coffee and sat down next to him on a cold, marble slab.
He was annoyed to see that the old man was still in his house as he rubbed the sleep from his face.
"Good morning." Tobias' friendliness went to waste as the vampire turned his back to him and walked out of the crypt to wash himself clean in the pound outside.
The old hare walked over to the grave at the center of the crypt.
"Here lies Lawrence Greenthorpe, founder of the Greenthorpe village. Visionair, husband, father."
Tobias' hands followed the letters. "I miss you old friend."
Louie had cupped his hands together and was about to wash his face as the words the old hare had spoken reached his ears.
He walked back to the crypt, his fur wet from his early morning bath. "You knew my father?"
Tobias smiled. It had taken him a while but he had finally reached out and made contact with Louie.
"He was a brilliant and charismatic man." A tear ran down Louie's cheek and it seemed as if he had finally woken up out of a long coma.
As if the realization had set in ... "He's gone, isn't he?"
The stranger came over to him and gave him a warm hug, as his father often had done when he was sad and he grieved over their loss.
He sat down by his mothers grave and stroke the marble as to feel a physical link with her. "I miss you mommy."
Tobias walked over to the pound to wash himself up. Together they had made a start to a long and slow process.
Estella woke up the same day, miles and miles away from Greenthorpe.
The fresh corpses of two young, dead men held her company. She had drained them from their life fluids and snapped their necks. They lay on the bed together in a macabre entanglement.
Estella had not spared a single life ever since Louie's, she kicked the lifeless rabbits out of her bed and got up.
The thick, brown curtains were drawn close and a thick musky scent filled the room and made her nauseous.
She drew open the curtains and the sunlight covered her milky, white body.
"Time to move on precious." She told herself. Estella had lost her mind ever since she ran away from Louie and had grown more mad with every bite from every corpse she took.
Nothing mattered anymore. She stepped over the corpse of one of her latest victims and got into her clothes. She clipped her garters to her panties and smirked.
Men were the easiest prey there was, all it took was one pretty smile and they were hers.
Estella opened the nightstand of her rented room in another random town and picked up a volume of the chronicles of Bruhn. "I've not given up looking for you yet, pretty." She said as she cackled like a maniac.
"You'll set us all free." Estella kissed the book and put it in her handbag, she walked out of the room to become a lady again for a few more hours.
"Focus." Tobias shouted as he knocked Louie on his back for the fifth time in half an hour.
"I can't, I've had enough for today Tobias." Three months had past and Louie had grown close to his mentor. Who had shown up to give him company. To teach him both the ways of the warrior and the scholar.
They were sparring with sticks on one sunny morning as Tobias told him to count up to a hundred in Gastarian, a dead language used by the first followers of the temple of Carrotus.
"Nijan, Garo, Pathek." Louie felt tired and with one firm blow Tobias smashed the stick out of his hand and into the lake. He firmed his grip on his own stick and with a steady hand made a notion to hit Louie over the head who in returned grabbed it and brought the old man out of balance making him roll to the grass.
"You're growing stronger." The old man coughed as he tried to get up, Louie reached his hand out to him to help him up. "You're forgetting one thing though, don't think you are victorious before you are."
Tobias grabbed Louie's hand and threw him into the lake.
The vampire grabbed his own stick and jumped back into the shore with such a force that his feet were buried ankle deep into the soft shore. He made a swoop with his stick and broke Tobias' fighting stick in half.
"I give up." The old man smiled, proud of his young pupil.
"Let us go inside and rest under the pleasure of a cup of tea. I think you've earned it."
"You know I can't drink this, Tobias." Louie said and Tobias laughed as he said "I may be old, my friend. But I'm not quite senile yet." His eyes sparkled with life.
"This is tea from Kahani leaves, they grow near the mills of Pneum Arklik. Quite an extraordinary place. You should see it for yourself some day."
He poured two cups, a feint flowery smell emerged from the pot of yellowish tea.
"This tea evaporates inside of the drinkers body and the steam has healing properties. Not that you need that with your regenerative capabilities, but an old man like me likes to treat himself with a cup or two every now and then."
He winked at Louie who smiled at him. Meeting Tobias was the best thing that had happened to him after years of loneliness. They took their cups in their hands and clinked them together over the good work out they had.
The vampire had always taken his friend for granted but a question had been burning on his lips for a while now and in a quite moment he blurted it out.
"Why did you come here Tobias?"
Tobias put his cup down. "You're father and I were best friends, we told each other we would always look out for one another. Unfortunately, I failed to do my job."
"You could not help it, Tobias. It was by his own hand he died. It would not have mattered any whether you had been there or not."
Tobias nodded his head. "You can not help it either Louie, but does that make you feel any less guilty for what happened?"
Louie quietly shook his head and the old hare continued.
"When I could not help him, my concerns for your father became my concerns for you. Concider it my inheritance."
Tobias paused for a moment to take another sip of his tea. "I was devastated to hear that your father had past on into the next life and after I heard eyewitness reports from this area that told of a creature haunting the Greenthorpe mansion. I knew it could only be you."
Louie was shocked to hear this. "But, how did you know? How come you know about these mythical beings that are a secret to the rest of the world?"
Tobias laughed. "My dear Louie, a secret this big can hardly be kept without someone uncovering it. Do you think Estella and you are the only vampires that roam Carrotus? The world is filled with mythical beings. Vampires, zombies, ghosts, there are thousands, hiding in the dark."
Louie's had spun, Zombies and ghosts? Surely he must have been joking. "Are you sure there are no side effects to this tea?"
Thomas continued as if he had not heard him. "Your father was not just a wealthy industrial land lord, Louie. Him and I have studied the occult ever since our years in high school. We have done excessive studying into the nature of these beasts and their history." Louie was sitting on the edge of his seat hearing all of this. He could not believe his father had been involved in all of this.
"I think it's time I showed you something, follow me." Tobias stood up and walked out of the drawing room to the grand library.
Louie followed after him and noticed him grabbing a book and turning it to a page with a strange, dark symbol on it. Tobias pronounced it and the floor of the Library shook. Four lines of equal size formed in the floor forming a perfect square.
It materialized to turn into a trap door which opened itself up revealing a flight of stairs that led down underneath the ground.
He treded down the stairs, lights in the long walkway popped on as he past them, as if they were controlled by magic and after what seemed like ages he entered a library that seemed at least four times as big as the one upstairs.
A skeleton of a beast he had never seen before stood in the far, right corner of the wall. A plaque underneath read 'Loup-garou'. "A werewolf." He mumbled to himself. "Unbelievable."
He looked around some more and noticed a drawing of what seemed like a large mill with several hooded figured kneeling in front of it worshiping an deity.
Mounted on the wall in front of him hang a framed picture of a ghastly being imprisoned behind bars of earth and bone. "I notice he caught your attention." Tobias' voice startled Louie.
Everything seemed so much more scarier in this damp air. "Yes, who is he?"
"His name is Bruhn, he gave birth to evil." Tobias said. One short sentence but the impact was enormous, because Louie had never heard fear in Tobias voice until now.
"It is written that he will return and clean the world of all that is good, he will act as an executioner and only the wicked will roam the earth."
"Surely this is just a legend?" Louie asked him hoping to see Tobias light up and slap him on the shoulder while letting out a hearty laugh.
"It could be." Tobias tried to calm him down and walked over to the first bookcase to the right of the stairs. "Follow me."
Louie walked backwards towards Tobias, not breaking free from the terrible eyes of the end of everything.
"I want you to read this, it's a story of sacrifice and bravery.Your father showed me this once and he had always believed it to be the absolute truth. I want to hear what you think of it."
Tobias pushed the book into Louie's hands and walked back up the stairs, Louie followed after casting one more glance on Bruhn.
Another month had passed and the book had revealed a lot to the vampire. It's title was 'Rapture' and it spoke of the return of Bruhn and the fall of all that is good.
It was a doom scenario that spoke of how there would be no resistance against it, and how our happiness would be carried away on the wings of the horned god.
The world would tumble through the vast universe for all of eternity and infect all of those it would come into contact with. It was, absolution.
The book gave no hope and Louie wondered why Tobias had given it to him, he feared Bruhn, the beast from which there was no escape.
He sat by the lake one day when he heard the cry of a young girl. "Tobias?" He shouted, hoping he would hear her too, but there was no answer. It was then he decided to do something he had not done in a very long time.
Louie passed the gate that lead to the village of Greenthorpe and followed the cries until he came to a clearing in which a young girl lay with a bleeding knee.
He moved closer to her to see if she had been hurt, she must have been no more than two years old and he wondered how she had gotten here in the first place.
He picked her up in his arms and noticed two hungry wolves who emerged from the thick bushes up ahead.
They growled at him and slowly moved closer towards their prey. The wolves bent through their front legs a little, making notion to jump until Louie let out a terrifying growl that sent them running back into the bushes.
He picked up the girl and carried her in his arms to the village up ahead.
"Oh, my little girl." A man came running towards him and took her in his arms and held her tightly to his body.
The villagers rejoiced when they saw her and gathered around her and her father.
"Oh, how can I ever repay you kind sir, for bringing our daughter back to us?" The mother asked Louie, she gulped when the daze of glory left her and she noticed his pale complexion which looked far off from the norm on this bright, sunny day. "I, uhm..." The villagers stepped back a little.
"You're welcome." Louie spoke and he walked back to the mansion where he was greeted by a worried Tobias.
They went inside, Tobias had made his famous tea. "That was a very noble thing of you, Louie."
"I could smell her fear, I could practically taste her blood in my mouth. And I wanted to Tobias, I wanted to." He shook his head in shame and anger.
"But you did not." The old man said with a twinkle in his eyes. "And that is what sets heroes apart from monsters."
A stone crashed through the window of the mansion hitting Tobias against the side of the head.
"Tobias, are you alright?" The old man crawled up, a trinkle of blood ran down his face. Louie looked outside, a horde of angry villagers had picked up their torches and pitchforks and were on their way to the mansion.
"You save a life and this is how they repay you, I'm sorry old friend." Tobias felt true regret for Louie, if only they could understand he was different from the true monsters. Then they would surely understand.
Another stone entered the room through the crumbling window and barely missed Louie, instead taking out a small vase on a cabinet.
Louie and Tobias made their way out of the house through the windows in the back of the drawing room that led to the lake, but were stopped by several angry villagers.
"Don't hurt them Louie, they don't know what they are doing." One of the villagers threw his torch at Louie and a patch of his fur was burned away.
"Stand still beast, you will never touch my child again." The father of the girl who had expressed his gratitude earlier now came rushing towards Louie with his pitchfork drawn up, read to impale the beast through his chest.
Louie could quickly jump aside but the villager impaled the weak Tobias with his pitchfork.
"No, oh god, please, Tobias!" Louie screamed at the top of his lungs and sank down on his knees next to Tobias who had been mortally wounded.
The vampire took his mentors head into his hands and begged for help, but the villagers all took a step back. It had never been their intention to hurt an innocent man. They only came here to slay the beast.
"Tobias, please. You are the only person I have left." Tobias grabbed Louie's hand and motioned for him to come closer.
"Don't believe everything you read, my friend. You can still put a stop to the rapture." He coughed up blood and grind his teeth togheter.
"I don't understand Tobias, what are you trying to tell me."
"The end is not inevideble. Find, them. You can not do it alone." Tobias coughed again and reached for his pocket.
"You a... the pure vampire." Tobias spoke in riddles and handed him the dark, black symbol he had used to open up the hidden library. "Take this."
He closed his eyes and with his last breath he spoke a single word. "Hope."
Louie turned to face the angry mob. "Why?" He screamed and he tried to get up to walk towards them, but his legs were to burdened with this sadness he had to bear and he fell down on his hands and knees.
"Why did you have to kill my only friend?" He cried as he felt two strong men pull him up and drag him over to the old tool shed by the lake. They threw him in and locked the door before they lit the shed on fire.
Louie clenched the drawing in his hand and rolled it up in a ball to prevent it from burning up as he felt the flames eat away at him.
The villagers stayed to see the shed burn down because they wanted to make sure the monster had been taken care of.
After the flames had died out, the last ones that had stayed behind left.
And out of the ashes came Louie when he thought the coast was clear.
Opening up his dark fist that would take quite some time to regenerate to reveal the picture that had stayed intact.
He would go down into the library and read every book there was, hoping to find a sign. Waiting for the others of whom Tobias had told him.
One word etched into his mind. "Hope."
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Chapter 45 (Part 2): Crossroads
Alexander grabbed Icarus and Jesse and took one last breath before the cockpit had filled itself with water. He looked behind him and noticed Verity pointing at the broken front window.
It was completely under water which meant they would be able to swim out of it without being pulled back into the ship.
It was a long way up however and the slender rabbit did not look like much of an atlethe.
He swam upwards and made rapid progress when Icarus smacked him in the face. He was still out cold but it seemed as if he had a frightening nightmare.
Alexander knew he had to hurry when Icarus gasped for breath and inhaled the filthy water of the lake.
Verity's agile body shot past him and reached the shore before he did.
She surfaced and gasped for breath pulling Naomi onto the shore. She took a second to capture her breath and pushed down on her chest to get the water out of her lungs.
The water ran down Naomi's cheek in small streams and she gasped for breath, still out cold.
She shot up as she heard the splash behind her. Alexander appeared holding Jesse by the fur of the neck. "Where is Icarus?" Verity called out to him as Alexander pushed Jesse out of the water.
"He will be right here little lady." He dived back into the blurry water of the lake, Icarus was slowly sinking to the bottom, kicking and punching making him sink even more rapidly.
'Oh no, you don't. You're all going to live.' Alexander thought as he grabbed Icarus by the arm and brought him safely to the surface.
"Quick, get out of the way." He shouted at Verity as he threw the rabbit down to the ground and pushed down on his chest.
"Oh god, it's not working." Verity panicked and looked over at Naomi who seemed to be in a peaceful slumber. "It's not fair." She mumbled as she thought of Raphael.
Alexander did his best to save the life of this stranger. "Come on man, breathe."
Icarus coughed and sat up straight. "No, no!" He shouted as he tried to whipe the sand from his fur.
It took him a moment to adjust to the fact that he was back in the real world. It had been the second time he had the vision and it had been the exact same as the one he had before.
The voice in his head that told him everyone would live, the mansion and the calm patch of grass and the deep grave he was thrown in and in which he had been covered with sand that entered his mouth, nose and eyes.
He coughed but there was no sand, just water. And everyone lived, just like his vision had told him.
"Naomi." He shouted and he crawled over to her on his hands and knees. "Naomi." He kissed her and stopped panicking when he saw her breathing softly.
Alexander overlooked the smoking engine, it had died down and did not pose any threat of explosion. He examined the close premesis to notice if they had attracted the attention of the creatures of the night.
Everything seemed quite, but it often did before all hell broke loose.
“Thank you for coming to our aid. The name is Verity.” The slender rabbit walked over to him with graceful paces and reached her hand out to him. “The name is Alexander Garand and it was my pleasure.” He told her as he shook it.
He looked over to the other rabbit who was holding the other girl in his arms. “Icarus.” He spoke giving him a quick glance before focusing his attention on the woman he seemed to care a great deal about.
“That's Naomi and this guy here is Jesse Aimon.”
“Sounds familiar.” Alexander said, but he gave it no further thought since Jesse seemed to have woken up.
“We are wanted for plotting against the senators life?” Susan needed a moment to let this news sink in.
"I am wanted for plotting against the senators life?" She repeated softer, her look focused on a trash bin in the far distance, her mind wandering. She saw herself behind bars, eating food out of a tin, unwashed cup with a wooden spoon. Surrounded by hags that were out to brutally ravage her.
"You!" She stood up and pointed her finger at Louie who took a step back. If he had learned one thing about Susan, it was that you do not mess with her. Ever.
She slapped him hard across the face. "You got us into this mess, I demand you do something about it right now!" She crossed her arms and looked at him.
Louie sighed and scratched his head. "Hey, don't get cocky with me. You're going to straighten this mess out and when we're done, I'm going home. Thomas, come with me."
They boarded the train and left Yakira, Tier and Louie standing on the platform. Tier laughed at Louie. "She's a fiesty one, isn't she?"
He followed the loving couple onto the train.
Louie walked up to Yakira to look at the rising sun, covering the trainstation in a romantic, orange glow. He wish he could share this sight with her.
"What will happen to us?" Yakira's question remained unanswered as the conductor motioned for them to come aboard.
Tier shoved his shell in the comfortable cushions of the Earian Express as the television sets in the train were automatically turned on.
Several health product commercials flashed by before the early morning bulletin started.
"Ahum, you might want to watch this." Tier told the others when a newsreport about Gary Parker came up.
The text on the bottom of the screen read 'Governor Parker issues statement about fugitives.'
"Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you not to panic. As you can see, I'm still in one piece." Faint laughter could be heard from the reporters.
"An attempt has been made on my life, but I ask you not to fear. The fugitives can not run far, police are looking for them nationwide and knowing them to be quality men and women, I am sure they will not rest before all of them will be apprehended." The reporters rose up and put up their hands, dying to ask the new governor a question.
"I am proud to tell you that they have already been brought in for questioning and they are interrogated now. It will not be long before we have found their companions. I must go for now, but I ask you again not to panic."
The silence in the coupe was broken by Yakira. "Two of us have been captured?"
She did not notice their portraits were shown on television. The other passengers in the train had noticed the group of fugitives and were nervously whispering to one another.
"Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea." Thomas put his hand on Susan's, the poor thing was shivering with fear.
They heard raised voices come from the next coupe and the door opened. In came a group of heavily armored soldiers, armed to the teeth with the most advanced weapons.
"You are under arrest for plotting against the assassination of a political figure, do not resist or we will open fire."
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Chapter 46: The last stop
Louie stared out of his bedroom window over the sleeping village below.
´An insight in the cult of Narash´ was resting in his lap. His hand rested between page 73 and 74.
Ever since Tobias had ´moved on´ a term he preferred over dead he had absorbed the knowledge of the vast amounts of books his father had left him.
His eyes moved over the pages but he could not focus tonight.
It had been five years since the death of Tobias.
He put the book down on the nightstand and stood up to take a look at himself in the cracked mirror against the rear wall.
Louie was wearing his dusty, old dinner jacket which felt a little tighter since the last time he had worn it.
He had kept up his extensive training and his slender figure had grown fuller as he had gained quite a bit of muscle.
His journey over the past few years had been an interesting one. The piles of book and his many hours of training had prevented him from losing his mind.
He had blocked Estella from his thoughts and had made peace with the death of his parents.
Dead was a natural part of life. He brushed the dust off of his black jacket that matched his black pants, laced with a purple line of silk.
The silver buttons on his coat had not lost their shimmer and he buttoned up the final button closest to his chin and seemed content for he walked out of the room for a private moment with an old friend.
He entered the mausoleum moments later. After a quick glance at his mothers grave he turned his head to the wooden coffin he had carefully crafted with his own two paws.
The words ´Here lies Tobias Crane, mentor and friend´ were etched into the dark wood with much precision.
It had costs him close to a day to make his friends final resting place, the man who had thaught him so much, yet left him with so many questions.
He stepped outside and left the door ajar for a moment to think of whether he would go inside for a longer visit or walk back to the house.
He settled with the second and pulled the iron door shut before making his way back through the overgrown bushes that once carried white roses.
As his feet moved over the dry and brown leaves he thought he noticed something in the corner of his eyes and quickly turned around, both fangs and his claws bared.
He shook his head when he saw his own shadow staring back at him, but with a frown of disbelief he realized there was no light source to produce a shadow this vivid.
The shadow crawled out of the ground, rose up and stood face to blank, transparent face with Louie who was searching for words.
A soft "What the..." was all he could manage.
The shadow had the same size and build as him but lacked a face even though he was able to produce noises.
It seemed almost comical. "My, what a rush." It said after finally confirming to itself that it was indeed able to talk.
Louie reached out his hand which was absorbed within the gasiform of the creature, he yanked it back and a small cloud of a gas like substance moved back in place.
"Yah, it's nice to meet you as well kid, where the heck are we?" Louie's shadow scratched his butt and walked towards the entrance of the mansion.
"Classy, very classy. Nice place you've got here." The voice was a ridiculous mixture of gruff and wacky, not half as wacky as the way in which the character moved and looked at the unfamiliar surroundings however.
Louie noticed he wanted to enter the mansion and walked after him, he made a motion to grab his shoulder but realized this would be rather futile.
"I can't remember inviting you in?" Louie noted, but the shadow just laughed and waved his comment away with a flick of his transparent wrist.
"Neither can I." It said as it walked through the door.
Louie ran after him and saw it slowly float into the drawing room where it took place on the piano bench.
"You could at least tell me who you are." Louie told him while the shadow mimicked playing the piano, his fingers not being able to touch the keys.
"I guess I could." It seemed to look up at him and if it had eyes it would look right into his. "I am you."
Louie had the feeling several things were coming back to it's memory all at once.
"I'm what you've left behind actually. The newborn you've left on a doorstep somewhere out there in the cold."
It pointed it's shady finger at the window, the weather outside was cold and gloomy.
The shadow stood up and walked over to Louie. "I can see you are confused." It said "Let me make things a little clearer for you."
It punched Louie in the face and sent him flying into the brick fireplace. His head smacked against the red stones and a dizzy feeling overcame him.
"Is it clear to you now?" It shouted. "I am what you should be, I am the feelings you've put aside for so long and I am here to stay."
Louie was bleeding from the back of his head and from a deep cut in the side of his face, just underneath his left eye he searched for words "This is not possible, you are a mere figment of my imagination. I've just been alone too long again. Leave fiend!"
He closed his eyes and repeatedly stated the fact to himself that he was not crazy.
Louie opened his eyes again and the shadow was gone.
He sighed in relief and tried to push himself back onto his feet.
"You did not think it would be this easy did you?" A whisper and a gush of cold wind descended from the chimney.
Before he knew it he received kicks and punches from every side and he realized he was no match for this creature, he could not hit it because it did not have a physical body. Minutes that seemed like hours crept by and after what seemed like forever the being stopped and took place again on the stool behind the piano.
It played a macabre tune as Louie reached for his chest. His eyes were swollen, his body black and blue and he was missing several teeth, including one of his canines.
"Trust me boy, Tobias was a bad man. A very evil man that wanted to take your true nature away from you." His mothers voice spoke out to him.
The shadow walked over to Louie and stroked his cheek as it's physique changed in that of the beautiful young woman Louie had known years ago. "I'm here baby. Everything will get better now. Do you remember the good old days? You and me devouring a villager by candlelight?" Estella's voice soothed him. She was back and she was here with him.
Louie's shadow portraying Estella planted a kiss on his forehead and took Louie's head in it's hands. "Would you like to go back to the days of yore, love?"
For a moment Estella looked him in the eyes and wanted to cry out and shout "Yes!!" if that would mean she'd stay here, but he thought of Tobias and the many hours of mental training his tutor had pulled him through and the spell his shadow had cast on him was broken.
"No, I'd rather die again." Louie said and he spitted blood right through the transparent face in front of him.
With a sharp crack Louie's neck was snapped and he sank down to the ground.
He woke up the next day and was firmly tied to a metal pipe in the basement of the mansion with the shadow patiently waiting in front of him.
"Good morning sunshine. I realize we got off on the wrong foot and I apologize for this." It spoke in it's own voice, it seemed less rough and more soothing.
"Well, untie me and I will try and find it in my heart to forgive you." He said, trying to hide his fear with the sarcasm in his voice.
The shadow laughed and opened the drawer in an old abandoned desk that once belonged to his father.
"You mean this old thing?" He said and he pulled out Louie's heart and pushed it in his face.
Louie suppressed the urge to vomit as he looked down at the scar in his chest.
"Don't worry pal, I'm just borrowing it." The shadow sat down theatrically and brought the heart up to the hight of his hostage's eyes. He sighed and shook his head. "What use is it to you anymore? You are a vampire, you do not need this old thing."
He walked back to Louie and jammed the heart into his chest, he pulled his hand back and blood seeped over the dusty floor.
"Now, there are a couple of things we have to go over. And I would kindly suggest you behave this time or I'll take something else away that actually has some life left in it."
It reached down between his legs and squeezed him hard in the testes. "Alright, I'll listen." Louie hissed between his teeth.
"I would like you to forget all about Tobias." Louie's shadow asked if it was a simple request. "He has brainwashed you into believing you are something you are not."
"And that is?" Louie asked, careful not to upset his new 'friend'.
"One of the good guys, you are rather dimwitted are you not?" He tightened his grip on Louie's sack.
Louie grind his teeth together because he knew what was about to come would be the most painful experience in his life.
"Go to hell." He grumbled but the pain did not come. The shadow let go and left the room.
He did not return for several days and it was not long before Louie realized what was going on.
"Give me something to eat now. Get down here or I'll kill you." He shouted again and again.
He was being punished for his betrayal to his own killer instinct.
A vampire was a wicked beast by itself, but deprived of food it was a thousand times worse.
His mouth foamed on the fourth day of hunger and his eyes were blood red.
The shadow had thought it was time to check up on his corporal self.
"I have brought you something my friend." He dragged a young girl in with him, they young maiden was bound and gagged and he threw her on the floor in front of Louie's feet.
Muffled screams escaped her lips. There was terror in her big eyes and salty tears ran down her cheek.
Louie sniffed the prey but fought hard to resist the temptation and turned his face away from her.
"Come on, champ. Have a nibble." The shadows face changed into Louie's own and he winked at him. "Just one little bite, you know we want it. Look at her, isn't she beautiful?"
Louie gave in to his cravings and fed on innocent blood. He gulped it down, all of it until there was no more...
Michelle and Tony were standing outside of the small cottage with their hands in the raised in the air.
The people of the village had gathered around to look at the sheer force of the policemen since not a whole lot happened in this town and this excitement made for a welcome change.
One mother pulled back her son who wanted to take a closer look at the weapons the police officers were carrying.
"If I have to warn you one more time you are going straight home." She squeezed his earlobe in discipline. "Do you hear me?" She added and the boy nodded his head remaining quiet for the remainder of this spectacle.
"Where are you taking us?" Tony demanded to know after he was pushed into the back of the small hovering vehicle.
The turtle that had arrested them let out a heartily laugh and yelled to his colleagues. "Hey guys, listen to this one. He demands to know what we do with political prisoners around here."
He was quickly joined in a round of laughs. "You two have won yourselves a luxurious holiday to Castle Neverberg."
Tony looked at Michelle for an explanation but she did not dare to meet his eyes. "Rest a little." She told him as the car drove off.
He took a look outside of his window wondering what was to become of them now.
Alexander took another drag from his pipe as he leaned against a rock overlooking the camp they had set up for the night.
It was not much but it would provide them with the necessary protection from wild animals. Alexander would stay awake because he knew wild animals weren't the only threat to them anymore.
They had decided they would get up early the following morning and head to Greenthorpe to meet up with the others.
As he lay there looking at the silent figures in front of him he realized he would not be able to pull of the plan he had formed in his mind all by himself.
He would make sure to keep it to himself until the time was right but vengeance over the loss of his 'family' would be his.
The plains were silent with the exception of the wind that moved through the bare trees at the horizon and the tall grass.
Icarus sat several feet away from him with his back towards Alexander and scratched at a patch of irritated skin his eyes fixed on Naomi who was lying in a tent, resting.
Playing the dream-sequence over and over again in his mind.
Jesse had assured him Naomi would be alright after a good rest and a few good meals of which he had already taken care using natural ingredients he had harvested nearby.
The young man had sought protection from the chilly wind in the hut he and Icarus had made and would share for the night.
They slept in pairs with the exception of Alexander who would keep watch.
Jesse had drifted off into a disturbing slumber as he saw the face of his late father Jonathan in front of him.
In his dreams he was transported back to one night, years ago, he had never forgotten. His father and mother attending his school play.
An adaption of Narion's classic 'The hare in the flame.' He would play the role of landlord Figgarus. His father had already shown his disappointment over him not getting the male lead role in this play and his face did not hide this fact. When it was Jesse's time to get on stage he prepared to deliver the lines he had studied so hard on to remember, but as he looked into his fathers resentful eyes the lines escaped him and he stuttered for a moment before bursting into tears and exiting the stage as quickly as he could.
The drive home that night seemed to take much longer then usual as he apologized to his father time and time again, but his father did not respond.
He lit a cigar when they got home and called for Jesse to join him in the living room.
Jesse knew it was best to do as his father told him and he sat down on the couch next to him.
"I do not blame you, son." His father said and he put his strong arm around Jesse's little shoulders and pulled him against his body in a loving fatherly embrace.
"Your teacher should have given the lead role to you, son. Nothing but the best for you, this is why you failed tonight up on that stage." He paused for a moment to take a drag. The smell was nauseating.
"You did not get what you deserved and therefore you simple did not try hard enough. My son needs the hardest and toughest jobs or he's not challenged enough. It's all so familiar to me."
Another pause in which he seemed to think drift of into thought. "I used to be exactly the same way when I was younger, you know?" He smiled and Jesse who smiled back.
His father had completely missed the point, but you did not talk back to Jonathan Aimon. Everybody that knew him, knew that for a fact.
Especially his mother who was sitting quietly on a chair nearby and tried to put on her best smile when her son looked at her. "I'll ask uncle Damian to have a talk with your teacher and we will both make sure this does not happen again."
Brad Dillany did not show up for class the next day. According to their principal he had been involved in an accident and would not show up for a while.
Mister Dillany never came back and this incident was a drastic turning point in young Jesse Aimon's life.
He would from this day on always strive to achieve the best and do everything to full potential, out of fear more than will.
He opened his eyes and crawled out of his shelter. Jesse took a glance at Verity's tent. She seemed sound asleep and was better of then the rest of them right now.
A small spacecraft flew over his head and made it's way North.
Louie looked around the train cart to see if there was anyway to escape from this mess.
The remaining passengers of the cart were all motioned to move into the next vehicle which was rather overcrowded by now.
Him and his four friends were ordered to sit on their knees and each of them individually faced the barrel of a gun as they put their hands behind their heads.
He could hear Susan´s soft sobs behind him and Thomas´ heavy breathing next to him. He was out of breath and tired after all that had happened the past few days but Louie admired his bravery as he looked into his face and did not see a trace of fear or panic.
The same went for Tier, but it was easier for him. He did not have a lot to fear, yet he decided to remain silent for the sake of the people that were traveling with him.
"Where are you taking us?" Yakira asked with her soft voice. She had learned to fear that which she could not see, especially if it was carrying a gun that could blow a hole the size of a grapefruit through her.
"If you'll ask one more question you'll end up on the bottom of Lake Earian with a rock around your neck." The leader of the heavily armed military unit barked back at her.
"Now listen vermin." He continued on a tone that was not much politer. "You'll just sit there quietly and do not try to do anything funny and you might survive." He smiled. "Well, at least for a while."
They all silently agreed that it would be best to buy themselves sometime and did not speak a word as they traveled further along the track for several minutes.
As the train had passed the village of Evermourne the silence was broken by a soldier that entered the door to their left.
"Sir, the lights. There is something wrong with the lights." He shouted in panic with little regard to the military code. "They are all going out one by one sir. We do not know what's going on."
His leader pushed the soldier aside and looked into the next cart through the shaky doors. The lights inside the cart all went out one by one and it was getting closer. "Keep your guns aimed at the prisoners soldiers." He bared at his men. "You there." He pointed at the soldier who had just reported to him.
"Go to the driver and ask him what is going on." The soldier saluted and rushed to the front of the train.
The first light in their compartment flickered and died. "Sir, what do we do, sir?" One of the soldiers asked while carefully lowering his gun.
"It's you, isn't it?" He looked at Louie and moved closer to him. "If you don't stop this right now I'll shoot one of your friends." The leader of the unit told Louie as he pushed the gun into Thomas' face.
"I know what you are, you disgusting..." The leader was cut short in mid sentence as the rest of the lights in the train were turned off. "Stop it now!"
"I'm not doing it." Louie replied and a cold feeling crept down his spine.
A loud noise of metal ripping apart accompanied by the hysterical laughter of a woman could be heard and the train shook heavily in it's tracks
The soldiers fell down and when the leader was caught off-guard Louie jumped for him and pulled the gun out of his hands. Tier and Thomas followed his example and both picked up a gun that had fallen from their owners hands. Tier punched one of the soldiers that had managed to hold on to it's gun in the face and threw his gun over to Susan who barely managed to get a grasp on it before it hit the ground.
With one clean shot she took out another soldier which wanted to grab the only gun still remaining on the floor.
Another sound of ripping metal could be heard and the train cart next to them was gone.
Thomas looked outside of it and saw nothing but darkness outside of the window.
"Get away from the door now! Hurry up and make your way to the other compartment if you want to live." Tier shouted to everyone of them.
They followed his lead holding the soldiers at gunpoint. One by one they walked into the overcrowded compartment Thomas jumped into it just in time as the other compartment was launched into the air.
The compartment they were in now was filled with people who were screaming and fighting to make their way into the next.
"We won't get out of here alive if we do not figure out who is doing this." Thomas screamed at Louie over the crying voices of the people.
But he did not reply and stood near the door to the compartment that had just vanished as this one was slowly running empty until only him and his friends were left.
"Louie, we have to move along right now." Tier said and as he walked over to Louie he heard the familiar sound of ripping metal.
The roof was being ripped open as easily as if someone tore a piece of paper in two. Thomas led Yakira and Susan into the next compartment and returned for Louie and Tier.
The vampire did not plan on leaving and Thomas and Tier soon found out why.
A person entered through the torn roof. Her slender feet made it's way in first and the rest of her body slowly glid through and floated down onto the deck of the train.
Her body was covered in a beautiful silky white dress that matched perfectly with the color of her fur. Her innocent face did not reveal her true nature and she gave Thomas and Tier a heartwarming smile that nailed them to the spot they were standing on before facing Louie. She had known he was there, yet she seemed surprised to see him after all these years.
"Estella." Louie said and a floodgate in his mind opened and the memories he had suppressed for so long filled him up.
"I heard you've been behaving like a naughty boy killing people left and right." Estella's full lips curled up into a smile. "And your little friends." She said as she turned around to face them again.
"A zombie." She said in a tone of disgust and she shuddered. "I remember you Tier. How long has it been? Six hundred, seven hundred years and look at you. Still rotting away inside your shell."
Tier turned his head away. "And this must be the accountant that has been giving us so much trouble." She laughed again, that hysterical laughter.
She flicked her hand and an invisible force pushed Thomas and Tier into the next compartment. Another flick of her hand and the door closed and locked behind them. "I will deal with you two later."
Estella moved closer to Louie, her bare feet gliding across the carpeted floor.
"We have some catching up to do, haven't we?" She reached her hands out, closed her arms around Louie and placed soft kisses in his face.
Louie did not say a word and closed his eyes enjoying her soft touch, but he soon snapped out of it when he heard the train ripping apart behind him.
He felt several invisible ropes closely wrap around him that cut in his skin. "Do not come after me!" Louie shouted at his friend who stood watching at him from behind the locked door in the other compartment.
And with these words Estella jumped out of the train holding Louie in a grasp he could not escape from.
Michelle stood in front of a large gate that lead to castle Neverberg, the most terrible place you can end up in on this side of the galaxy.
The castle was surrounded by an impassible moat of molten lava and was only accessible by a heavily guarded bridge that was charged with C-4 as a last measure in case things ever got out of hand.
Inside it was heavily guarded by demons who were brought here from the planet dam-nation and were given complete freedom to do everything they felt was necessary to demand respect from their prisoners.
"This place should not exist." Michelle whispered to Tony. "It was a rumor spread to create fear among wrong-doers."
Their guard overheard them and replied to her. "Thanks to mister Parker we can finally give you scumbags the punishment you deserve. Now shut up and start walking."
He hit Michelle in the back with the butt of his gun making Tony angry, but he was smart enough not to try anything.
The gate had been raised and Michelle and Tony were forced across the bridge, the heat of the lava stung in their lungs and the gate was lowered immediately after them to take any hope of escape away from them.
As they crossed the bridge dozens of demons looked at them and laughed over the new arrivals in their own little piece of hell here on Carrotus.
The two new arrivals would surely make for a good few days of entertainment.
The guard that brought them left them halfway on the bridge telling them to move forward from here by themselves.
Tony looked at Michelle one more time before the gate to the castle opened, how would they get out of this?
A car pulled up at an abandoned port for private spacecrafts, out stepped two gentleman dressed in blue suits.
One of them sat down on the hood of the car and was quickly shunned away by the other. "You idiot, do you have any idea who we are picking up. Everything has to look perfect."
The taller of the two nervously looked around to see if the mistake the other had made wasn't seen by anyone.
"Alright, alright, take it easy. He's not supposed to be here for another half hour." The shorter one barked back at him but he quickly apologized when the other shot him a dirty look.
The sound of engines could be heard close-by and a small mark one spacecraft came inside.
"Looks like he's early, straighten up your jacket." The short guy complied and made sure he looked picture perfect as the craft landed on the ground in front of them.
The door opened and out stepped a large hare whose head was kept in the dark by a hat. He wore a purple suit that looked slightly filthy as if it had gone through a lot lately.
The limp revealed that the same went for the man who wore it.
"Mister Johnathan Aimon." The short guy said. "It's an honor to welcome you to Carrotus, sir."
Louie was floating through the air at an incredible speed and from the landscape below him he saw that he was getting closer to Greenthorpe.
He looked up and saw that Estella's peering eyes had broken free from him and they were now firmly fixed on her goal whatever it might be.
The ropes that had bound him seemed to become more physical as he called to his own vampire powers.
He grabbed gave a firm tug at the one that held his legs in place and with a scream Estella came to a complete stop. "What are you doing? Where did you learn this?"
Estella screamed harder as Louie bore his fangs into one of the fleshy ropes and Estella pleaded for him to stop it before she could not take it any longer and let go of him.
He fell down to the ground and heard a crack as his back landed on a rock. Estella floated down towards him, the beauty he had seen before made place for malice.
"Come here you." She screamed at him and reached out her hand to push him firmer against the rock.
He felt every inch of his body ache as she did this and his eyes moistened from the pain. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it firmly, she slowly let go.
Estella took a few steps back and pulled him back onto his feet. "I'll go with you." Louie panted as he got up. "Just don't do that again."
The woman in front of him had fallen silent and he could see regret in her eyes over what had happened.
"Please come quietly and we can prevent this from happening again." Estella took a few steps towards Greenthorpe but Louie reached out and grabbed her hand.
"What are you..." She tried to speak but was cut short as Louie placed a kiss on her mouth.
She was caught by surprise but did not object to this familiarity and gently bit on his lower lip. It had been so long, but never had she forgotten the moments they had shared.
This moment of intimacy brought her back to when she and him spend time next to the water outside of his house. Making love until the morning came.
She forgot all about her surroundings and let herself go in this kiss.
Louie took advantage of this moment and the nails on the hand behind his back slowly transformed into claws.
When she broke free from his kiss he felt pity but he knew he had to get away from her. "I love..." She did not have time to finish her sentence as Louie sank his claws deep into her eyes and as she sank to her knees crying tears of blood he ran for it.
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The Happiest Man
She was his best friend.
Thomas gazed into Susan's eyes. She was sitting opposite him at their round, secluded table. Between them were the remains of a two-person carrot lasagne, their favourite dish. They had spent the day wandering around the older quarters of Nole-in-Isvale. Usually referred to as Nole, it was the historic commercial centre of Golbert, a region of southern Diamondus. This was not the first time they had shared a holiday, but it was the first time they had been off Carrotus together.
Susan gazed back into Tom's eyes. It was nice to have him behaving normally again. he had been detached all day. He still seemed nervous, but this wasn't unusual. Besides, he was probably worried about the bill. It had been rather extravagent of him to book a table at one of the city's most expensive restaurants.
The band finished the piece they were playing and moved on to the next. Tom glanced at his watch. Perfect. He could feel the small box in his jacket pocket. It contained the engagement ring his father had given his mother. His parents had been so happy when he'd asked for it.
"Oh, Tom, they're playing our song!"
Susan loved Tom.
She was his best friend.
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Chapter 47: The collaboration
We are sorry for the inconvenience, but because of the... uh... the...
Because of the... accident ...the train will be re-routed to the nearest hub with a repair station. Those of you who wish to go further than the Spaceport Station in Earian, should look to catch another train. We apologize for the delay, and hope the rest of your trip is... uneventful.
Thomas looked around the crowded train as it slowed to a stop. All of the civilians on the train had gotten bored of staring at him and his wife, and most of them had even gotten tired of staring at Tier and Yakira. Thomas starting getting his hopes up, thinking that they might be able to blend in with the crowd, when Tier motioned for him to look out the window. On their boarding platform was at least a dozen Carrotan Military Tuffguards, armed to the teeth.
"Alright, you know what to do, so drop that bomb and get out."
Kaz didn't respond to the tinny voice in his ear, his destination was already in sight as he glided casually through the Spaceport Train Station. Another day, another bombing.
"Kaz, don't look, but there are a dozen Tuffguards with all the trimmings on platform #7. I don't think they suspect you, they are aiming at the... What the hell happened to that train? Listen, finish your job quickly and then see what is happening on platform #7, an enemy of our enemy just might be our friend."
Kaz decided to take on the look of a bird who was about to miss his train, and reached platform #11 just as the train and it's visiting dignitaries were slowing to a stop.
He dove under the train and flew quickly down the length of it, dropping sticks of TNT as he went. As he flew out from under the caboose, he started circling back to platform #7 and then pushed a button hidden in his glove.
Thomas was holding a panicking Susan. Thoughts raced through Susan's mind. More than half the people in the train had left, there was no way out without the guards seeing, there was no where to hide, and -
The explosion rocked the entire train station.
Those closest were knocked flat by the shock wave.
Everyone else hit the floor a second later by pure instinct.
The well trained Tuffguards were running full tilt for platform #11 before anyone else realized why they were laying on the ground.
Chaos. Everyone rushing towards the exits, people screaming, people crying.
Tier quickly realized that this was it. He grabbed Thomas and Yakira and heads out the door, Thomas pulling Susan along as they went.
"Hey, it's the kid! The girl, with the Jade Dawn!" Kaz yelled into his glove, from his perch in the rafters of the train station.
"Yeah, I see her. She seems to have picked up a couple of friends... wait a second, I just saw their Holo broadcasted like a half an hour ago. Let me do a quick search... They are wanted for attempting to assassinate Governor Gary Parker. Kaz, I think we have some new friends to meet"
"Right, just keep the cameras off line. I'll meet you back at base, set the table for six."
.
Nadine Harefeathers was tired after a long flight across Carrotus. She remembered back when she was a child, some of her Rabbit friends saying how lucky she was, that she could fly while they were confined to walk. This week, she was almost wishing she wasn't a pigeon, with all these stories of assassinations and vampires and werewolves and civl war refuges, she barely had any time to sleep between researching, reporting, then flying to the next location.
As she flopped into the squeaking hotel bed, exhausted, she asked herself for the third time this week if this was worth it. As she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, with the clatter of rain on the roof of the Inn, she convinced herself not to quit. At least not yet.
Nadine started awake whimpering, the face of a vampire still etched in her memory. "Ok, it was just a dream" she said to herself, trying to convince herself of it. She scanned her dingy hotel room, making sure she was alone. "Ok, I need to sleep, I can't have nightmares keeping me up, I have enough to deal with as it is," she told herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her breathing. Before she could exhale, she was lifted out of her bed by the throat and found herself staring into the eyes of a vampire.
"Where are they!" it hissed, through closed teeth.
Nadine struggled to breath, the creature loosened it's grip on her throat enough for her to talk.
"Wh-where ar-are whowhowho?" she stuttered.
"Those who were arrested for the attempted assassination of Gary Parker," the creature breathed, "they cut your broadcast every time you mentioned a name."
"Th-the locals of Tahamo say they were taken to C-Castle Neverberg."
"That place does not exist on any map" the creature growled "where did they take them?"
"Th-they were headed towards th-the Carrotridge M-mountains, last I saw. At least, it's the only thing I know of in that direction."
The creature hesitated, then growled "Thank you" and dropped Nadine back into her bed. It turned and stepped toward the window.
"Wait!" Nadine squawked, "who are you?"
The creature paused at the window, turned and said "I am Louie Greenthorpe. Sleep well, Nadine." and then was gone.
.
"Welcome to the Underground," said the burnt turtle, sitting down at the table.
"I don't want your names, and you will not get ours. The underground works best if those who are captured have nothing to tell."
The burnt turtle turned and addressed Yakira, "I never thought I'd see you again, after dropping you off, blind and burnt..."
"You are the ones who saved my life?" asked Yakira, "I never even saw your faces. You are good people..."
"Good?" asked the burnt turtle, "We kill many people on a daily basis, My companion and I. No, I wouldn't say we are 'good', I'd just say we are a means to that end. And look, we are in the company of assassins! No, not good people at all."
"Why did you bring us down here?" asked Tier, "You killers must have some motive for assisting us"
"Yes, in fact we do" started Kaz
"We want the corrupt government to be destroyed, from the very core." continued the burnt turtle, "And you, even though you might be doing it for different reasons, seem to be wanting to help."
At this point, Susan started crying. "I am not an assassin, never wanted any more than to live in peace with Thomas, raise kids and grow old together..." she hugged Thomas protectively and turned to quiet whimpers.
"I just wanted to find out what happened to my sister, I just want to head to Pneum Arklik and find my way from there." stated Yakira quietly.
"And you?" asked Kaz.
"I... I want revenge." Said Tier, "Estella and Parker are both vampires and working together and I want Estella dead."
A moment of silence, then Burnt said "Well, we know of someone who is passing through, and perhaps can help you three hide from the eye of the law. We have ties in with the mafia and might be able to get you smuggled to a planet outside the jurisdiction of the Carration Empire. Now," the burnt turtle turned toward Tier, "bombs and hacks don't kill vampires, do you have a plan, Zombie?"
Tier thought for a moment, then asked "Turtle, in your tour of the hacking world, have you ever come across an organization called 'Schism'?
.
Alex had followed the space ship he saw fly overhead, as it was flying low, and flying low in the middle of nowhere is always worth investigating. He reached the landing point just in time to see the spaceship take off and a car driving his way. He hid in the shadows and slapped a bug on the car as it passed, then headed back to camp while listening to the feed from his bug... "Well..." he thought, "It seems that Johnathan Aimon is in town."
He got back to camp just in time for it to be his watch. Naomi complained about him not getting back sooner and crawled under the tarp they called their bedroom.
Alex was just settling in for the long haul when his Schism issued phone rang. The caller ID was blank...
"Who is this and how did you get into this network?" Alex asked forcefully.
"Hey, Schism, this is Zombie. I just met a hacker who really knows closed circuit phones. We need to talk."
.
Tier absently hung up the jury rigged phone, contemplating his next move.
The mafia leader, Johnathan Aimon himself, is here on business, and from the sound of things the business is probably the crew Alex is helping. If he wants them dead or alive I don't know, but neither is a good option. Gary parker, with the help of Bruhn and Estella, moving up quickly through the ranks of corrupt government, Louie most likely ripped to shreds, and all over the news is Tony and Michelle's capture. So few of us versus an entire Mafia and Government... but... but what if we got them to fight each other?
Tier snapped out of his stupor, and saw Burnt staring at him.
"So," Tier started, "Do you happen to know the number for a Jonathan Aimon?"
"I might be able to dig it up," answered Burnt, eying him, "But why do you ask?"
"I want to see if they can smuggle three people out of this system's jurisdiction, and I am wondering if they would take a little muscle as payment for that ticket."
"I don't think your muscle would be enough for that," Burnt started,
"-would you like to join me? Or is the Mafia somehow conflicting with your's and the bird's goals?" Tier asked.
It was the burnt turtle's turn to sit and think, now.
.
Louie was running full tilt, high on the fresh blood of a deer he met in passing. The path was easy to follow, even in the rain and in the dead of night. A caravan of military vehicles leave quite a mess of tracks when crossing a plain. The full moon and fresh blood was good for him, he felt like he could fly. He spotted something glowing ahead of him, and steered toward it. He slowed to a stop next to the moat. It was real, then. Castle Neverburg, a bit of hell, imported for the sole purpose of... something so evil, not even this Vampire could get his mind around it.
He circled the castle, the drawbridge was up and there was no way in. Louie briefly wondered if the moat of lava was more to keep the prisoners in or to keep the demons in. He looked up and saw a window, big enough for a man to fit through. Ten feet above ground level, thirty feet above lava level, and a hundred feet from this side of the moat.
Louie looked again, and saw a glimpse of motion through the window. He listened closely, he could hear the evil cackling of demons and cries of pain. He could smell the blood... He was fairly sure that that was Tony's blood.
The moon was full, his blood was fresh, he felt, no, KNEW that he could fly. He turned around and walked away, for he would need a running start.
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Chapter 48
Estella skipped through the night, and it was a skip, the merry kind of half hop, half jump that a child might do down the street with a big lollipop. She was in a very good mood; she had fed earlier that night and relished the sheer terror you could cause before putting someone out of their misery. And now she had a new toy to play with, how fun! Behind her she heard the crashing as something slow and ungainly pushed through the bush. She jumped into a tree, landing on the branch as lightly as a feather amid a small flurry of snow. And there it was; the zombie struggled past beneath her, turning slowly as she grabbed its arm, before it was flung away into a snowdrift.
"Oh dear, oh dear. What shall we do with you? Do you need a hand?"
It was a puerile and childish thing to say when you were holding someone's arm, but Estella didn't really care, she enjoyed the irony, and anyone who thought otherwise could take up the issue with her. She smiled, or at least the corners of her mouth turned up, and approached the indentation the creature had made. A few brief kicks told her that it had gone, which was odd, surely she hadn't seen it move?
"Come now zombie, it's no fun of you to be hiding like this! Come out and play!"
The clearing was quiet, everything muffled by the fresh snow. The moon was up, bathing the whole scene in an alien light, as if the world had been turned to ice. Estella looked about, but there was no sign of her quarry, it had disappeared, which was impossible. It had to be around here somewhere... There was a sharp crack above her and she looked up.
They weren't supposed to move that fast.
"My name's Tier, you bloddsucking b*!"
* * *
Where had he been at the time? It was difficult to remember. Everything was difficult to remember now. It had been near some small town, there were so many. It was picturesque, you could say that much; nestled between two towering mountains, bisected by a fresh mountain stream, the houses were perched on what had once been sheer rock cliffs but had, due to a rockslide who knew how long ago, formed a plateau, a rock ledge surrounded by scrubby mountainside.
The town had been almost unreachable in winter, the roads becoming blocked with drifts of snow or small rock and mudslides. Every spring the villagers cleared the main paths and sent off to the cities for supplies, and in bad winters, coffins. After really bad winters they didn't leave at all, some things were kept quiet.
It had been winter when Tier had arrived, if that was the word, he set out in no particular direction and kept to no timetable, either way he found himself in the vicinity just as the snows were closing in. The villagers had been smart enough to carve markers on the trees, a great aid to anyone who became lost in the freezing nights, but Tier avoided them. Somehow, he couldn't remember when, he'd figured out how to read them, the more stripes the further you were away, and they were always on the village side of the trees.
Tier hadn't noticed anything of course, he'd wandered through cities without batting an eye. Food was scare here, but he always avoided the village. Always. Nothing good ever came of approaching civilization because he was a shadow, something from a story book, a tale to frighten small children away from the darkness outside the window. He'd looked in once, spied on those living normal lives, but that was long ago and he hadn't benefited from it.
And then it was spring, the snows were melting and he could move on. That's when he met her, or she met him, just like Michelle. He'd been hungrier and she was a lizard though and it had been almost the pitch of night. The fact she'd been there at all was amazing enough given the war the rabbits were undertaking over Deserto, but small towns couldn't afford to be prejudiced when there weren't enough people to go around. He'd simply been making his way out of the area when he spotted her behind him, holding a lantern and a carving knife. The markers needed recarving every spring. Interestingly enough she hadn't fled, despite his appearance, she'd just been curious, and restrained.
"You're the creature everyone's been talking about right? You're the one who got rid of all the wolves and that vampire this year?"
She spent the rest of the night talking to him, it was the longest conversation he'd had in decades and with good reason. He remembered the vampire; he'd left what remained of it lying in the snow somewhere. The wolves had been easier, they got desperate with the cold, especially the lone males; all that mattered was eating. For both of them. Apparently the village was exceedingly grateful, they'd probably have given them one of their first born. As it was he sat and listened, unable to answer back in his condition. He was endlessly grateful for someone to talk to, he knew she was almost gagging at the smell and probably shocked at his appearance. Did she know how hard it was to stand still? To not simply reach over and tear out her throat?
A voice interrupted Tier's thoughts.
"Hey. Hey dude, are you awake? You've been sitting there for hours."
And now the world was big and complicated again. It couldn't just be about the Hunger anymore, there were people and lives and... life. He had to watch out for others again and think and strategize, and all the other things that came with living that he had forgotten over the years. The Vampire was out there somewhere, with her smug little smile and stupid voice. Tier would hunt her down and tear her to pieces again. And this time he'd leave nothing.
He'd make sure she suffered as much as he did.
* * *
The sky was ominously overcast as the sun set, its rays blood red and tinging the landscape as if the clouds had been murdered. It was going to be a cold night, and already the guards were wrapping up warmly. Two of them led their captive into the building ahead, it's door dark and empty, like a waiting mouth. Behind them, another two guards held their captive, at least until, with surprising strength, she jerked out of their grasp and ran forward.
Michele grabbed hold of the leading guard's shoulder, instinctively he pointed a pistol at the young rabbit. His gaze was contemptuous and unmerciful.
"Where are you taking him?"
"You don't expect two terrorist suspects would be held in the same cell, or even the same building do you? Where you can plot and plan a cover story, or even perform some sort of suicide pact? Say goodbye to your friend here, you won't be seeing him in a long, long time."
Michelle gasped and dashed forward. Out of surprise the guard let off a round that grazed her shoulder and knocked her off balance. In a flash she was up again, but this time the gun was pointed at Tony. A hand fell across her shoulder and she turned to see another guard grasping her firmly and shaking her head. This one wore a different uniform and looked rather unkempt, a young white fox, whose perfect, pointed teeth showed when she smiled. She gently grabbed Michelle's hands and led her away, across the compound and towards the forest. Michelle twisted her head around as far as she could, her last glimpse of Tony being his pained face as a guard kicked him in the shint o hurry him along.
"There's nothing you can do my dear. Just come with me; there's been an arrangement."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see. Now strap this on; it'll block anyone tracking us, electronically or by magic."
The fox hurried along at a surprising speed, they were well into the forest now, surrounded by nothing but the quiet organic sounds of the trees. Michelle almost struggled to keep up, still finding it strange she wasn't panting from the exertion. The device the fox had handed her resembled a small bracelet, silver, but with strange black markings on it that seemed to be strangely indistinct, as if they were shadows trapped in the metal. However, once it had clicked onto her wrist, it wouldn't come off, no matter how hard it was tugged. All of a sudden the fox stopped dead, turned, stared at her with deep blue eyes and handed her a small black box, with a silver disk embedded in its top.
"This is a copy of a book known as the Chronicles of Bruhn; one of quite a few me and my comrades made without our... leader's knowledge. Of course, we should probably call them the Chronicles of Parker by now.
"I don't understand, what has this got to do with anything?"
Michelle was completely confused, nothing was making sense. The box was strangely warm in her grasp, and heavy, as if it were packed with ead. The fox tapped the box on it's upper face; it shimmered and a holograph of a page flickered into view. The fox swiped her finger along it a few times, and the page shimmered, other texts popping past until it showed what she wanted. The text was strange, it looked not so much like writing, but rather as if someone had placed a small razorblade at the end of a pencil, then repeatedly slashed the page with it. It was nothing she'd ever seen before, and there were diagrams too, and tables, shimmering just above the box.
"You don't know what you are, you're an Arcania zombie, descended from the circle or Bruhn themselves. As far as I can tell, you're only two down from the line. Perhaps I should bow?"
"Bruhn, who's Bruhn? You keep mentioning him."
"Let's walk and talk, we have the time. He's the Big Guy. The Boss, the creator of all the undead races. Werewolves first, then vampires, and finally zombies. Each an improvement on the last apparently. Vampires are stronger than us, and zombies too, and harder to kill than anything. Mind you, Bruhn wasn't always successful..."
Michele listened as they moved further into the forest, as the sun set and the moon rose, walking in almost pitch black darkness. She heard about how the great Bruhn had taken prisoners, slaves and innocents and twisted their bodies, spawned the first of the undead, not just the pure races, but accidents, twisted creatures that begged for a death that never came. The stupid, moaning zombies that could still be found in wild areas were some of the less twisted results. In the end he'd transformed a circle of his greatest friends into an almost all-powerful cadre... and then what? Something had happened to end almost all of them. Michelle wasn't paying much attention; the dark held no fears for her now, but all the time she worried about Tony; what were they doing to him? What would they do to her?
And all of a sudden, there were there. The fox had slowed and was sniffing the air, evidently she was being guided by scent. They were deep in the woods now, who knew where, though there *was* a trail here; an ant would've ignored it, it was just a rough path through the clearings, covered in moss and split by bracken. And there was a large hole in it, right in the middle. Next to it was a large bulky mechanical craft, the dirt had been piled up neatly on a platform nearby, the mossy turf cut into neat squares. The fox stopped suddenly, confused, then ran over to the hole and peered at the bottom.
"Twofire!" she gasped.
Michelle became aware of several presences behind her, she'd been too caught up to pay attention to her 'life sense' There was a sharp flash and the fox whimpered and fell into the hole, right on top of the body of the wolf she'd presumably been waiting to meet.
"Ah, Fourfox, such a pretty girl, pity about the name, if there's one thing the Vyrrn clan couldn't do it was names. Smart though, far too smart it seems. Copying my little book behind my back, tut tut, you could have just asked to borrow it."
The voice was clipped, measured, and certainly quite different from when she'd heard it last, but Michelle recognized it long before she twirled around to face the speaker. Gary Parker was leaning idly against a tree, flanked by two strange rabbits, normal from what Michelle could tell, and that made sense.
"I don't know if I should thank you my dear, you did, after all remove a large number of those whose loyalty to me was wavering, and I have taken care of the rest. But I really must deal with you, I had a rather unpleasant time getting rid of the last lot, but we live and learn, or, in most cases at least one of them."
"You can't do anything to me, not like this."
"Oh but I can, it's all in the book you know. Only extreme fire will take care of you permanently of course, but I've always been more... inventive. Low calcium cement, about six tonnes; emphasis on the tonnes."
Gary Parker was grinning widely now, like a child who had just built their tallest block tower and wanted to show it off to their parents. He gave the slightest nod towards a shaded vehicle nearby that turned out, on closer inspection, to be a cement mixer. The two rabbits that had been standing idly by were now working the controls of the machinery nearby. Parker had taken a lot of trouble to dig the pit, the vehicles were all hoverers, which was the only way you'd get anything into forest this thick, the turf had been cut out nicely, and the hole was neat, six feet wide and six feet deep. But what-
There was a flash and Michelle felt herself split in two, saw her legs tumble after her into the pit, landing on the still-warm body of her former captor. Then something else hit her, it was cold and thick, like liquid stone.
"Out of courtesy, I saved you a meal for your stay, and believe me, that will be a long, long time. You will of course, go quite mad, I suggest you try and think of all those you left behind, it will keep you sane, for a few years at least, and I do so like to see a good struggle. And no, nobody is coming for you, nobody will find you, unless, oh, maybe in a few decades they'll plow the place up for apartments, not if I have anything to do with it though."
The cement bogged her down, Michelle struggled to pull herself up but the more that poured down, the more firmly it held her. She struggled and thrashed in the much, but it was no use, it poured down onto her like an avalanche of rock, pinning her arms, crushing her chest, filling into her mouth and nose, muffling her screams and struggles.
It wasn't long before the cement had buried the rabbit. Gary watched until the tank was completely emptied, the surface settling and bubbling gently. It would harden in less than half an hour, and get stronger for years afterward. His two contractors dumped another ton or two of earth on top, taking absolute care not to leave a single ounce misplaced. Finally they replaced the turf, neatly as it had been removed, so you could barely see where it had been disturbed. Finally, to top things off Gary planted a small seedling he'd removed from nearby; after all, it paid to have *some* marker of this place. Maybe he'd come back to watch its progress afterwards.
By the time the sun rose the next day there was very little trace of the night's activities; some scents, earth sprinkled where it shouldn't be, a ragged look to the bracken. But this place was popular, in a sense. Many lay buried under the turf here; Gary Parker had many enemies... once. It wasn't easy to control the undead, or the underworld. The next day a gentle rain smoothed out the newest, and most secure grave in the unofficial graveyard. By that time the two that knew its location were already sinking into the mud of the river carrotus with their own personal supply of cement.
A week later the silence was broken by a flock on hungry starlings scrapping over a large worm, but that was all that disturbed the small sapling as it settled its roots in for the slow but steady growth it had plans for in the long, long years ahead.
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