All The Lost Souls
Strange Happenings
Sammael
The docklands of Lethe are a very seedy place, so bad that even I feel dirty just being here, and I’m the one who goes around slaughtering demonic hell-spawn. There was filth wherever you looked, whether it is literal or moral filth. Dumpsters overflowed with bags of rubbish and the entire area smelled like sun-dried fish guts; delicious. Not only that, but the docklands was a favoured scene for the shadier residents of the city, a majority being drug dealers, petty criminals or crime lords. There was a drug trade or violent mob hit around every corner, but those occurrences aren’t my problem, or at least they never used to be.
From my very “brooding-superhero” crouching position atop one of the larger buildings in the area, I surveyed the surroundings. Random muggers lurked through the various shadows, nothing too serious. As for the challenge I desired so much, I was beginning to think I may not be here. Not even vampires dwelled around here. They had a subconscious aversion to water and would avoid it if given a choice. Or so I thought.
Down on the street, a group of vampires were walking in a formation towards the water. Apparently, I’m not as well-versed on vampire habits as I thought. But everything I knew about anything was screaming in my head that something was up. For one, there was the whole “vampires don’t like water” argument, for another they weren’t walking in their usual animalistic style, standing upright instead of on all fours. And they weren’t growling like a lawn-mower.
Resisting the urge to kill now and ask questions later, I acted all stealthy and followed via the rooftops. In absence of the low-pitched growling was nothing, no talking or snarling or anything, and it really had me confused. One of the things vampires weren’t known for was their “inside voices”. I followed at a distance, trying to keep out of reach of their senses of smell, and it was working, until I tripped on a loose pipe and fell to the ground with a loud and painful thud. Not exactly one of my most graceful landings.
I jumped to my feet, my hand automatically hovering over Pointy’s handle, awaiting the rush of the vampires I was supposed to be sneaking up on, but it didn’t come. They didn’t even acknowledge the fact that some guy with a sword had fallen from the roof. “Hey, are you three just gonna pass up a free meal?” I shouted, but they ignored me and kept on walking. I had to say, I was slightly offended.
They continued to march towards the docks, oblivious to my presence. I followed, but opted for the more subtle, ground-level pursuit. I was making the intellectual leap that since these creatures were semi-civilized and not killing every little thing that fell from a roof, they were connected to something unusual. It may not end well, but it was a start. The three vampires continued their monotonous march through the winding maze of streets until the water was in sight.
They rounded a corner and met with a group of people, people who didn’t even seem to notice their demonic and hellish facial features, which definitely meant that these folk were up to no good. I paused at the corner and lingered in the shadows, not sure of what I was going to do next. I was almost morally torn about whether I was okay with hacking humans to pieces, it sounded like fun but I’m sure there would be repercussions in the long run, soul-wise. I put the dilemma out of my mind and focused on the scene in front of me, trying to discern what was happening more than anything else.
A boat was being unloaded with crates of something, regular shady business, but the strange thing was that the entire transaction was being observed by vampires stationed at various positions. And they were all perfectly behaved, not ripping the humans’ limb from limb or anything. This night was getting stranger and stranger, even for me. There was one man wearing a quite expensive-looking business suit fraternizing with another man who I assumed was the ship's captain. Everyone looked like they belonged in the scene, except for one girl standing in the corner. I was assuming that this was the drug trade I was looking for.
Now I’m not normally the type whose thoughts are ruled by that other thing, but the girl in the corner was quite frankly one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. She had flowing brown curly hair, and beautiful blue eyes, despite the dark rings around them. She had a stunning face, even though it was gaunt from lack of sleep. She seemed so fragile amongst all the evil surrounding her, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and was darting looks at everyone around her in a very paranoid fashion, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, even though I knew I should. Eventually, I pried my eyes away from her and back to the trade.
One of the men in suits handed a briefcase to who I guessed was the owner of the boat. The man opened it, examined it contents and snapped the lid shut again. All the crates of some unknown substance were being transported into nearby storage boxes by people in forklifts. And one thing I wasn’t expecting was that the man in the suit had pure black eyes.
The docklands of Lethe are a very seedy place, so bad that even I feel dirty just being here, and I’m the one who goes around slaughtering demonic hell-spawn. There was filth wherever you looked, whether it is literal or moral filth. Dumpsters overflowed with bags of rubbish and the entire area smelled like sun-dried fish guts; delicious. Not only that, but the docklands was a favoured scene for the shadier residents of the city, a majority being drug dealers, petty criminals or crime lords. There was a drug trade or violent mob hit around every corner, but those occurrences aren’t my problem, or at least they never used to be.
From my very “brooding-superhero” crouching position atop one of the larger buildings in the area, I surveyed the surroundings. Random muggers lurked through the various shadows, nothing too serious. As for the challenge I desired so much, I was beginning to think I may not be here. Not even vampires dwelled around here. They had a subconscious aversion to water and would avoid it if given a choice. Or so I thought.
Down on the street, a group of vampires were walking in a formation towards the water. Apparently, I’m not as well-versed on vampire habits as I thought. But everything I knew about anything was screaming in my head that something was up. For one, there was the whole “vampires don’t like water” argument, for another they weren’t walking in their usual animalistic style, standing upright instead of on all fours. And they weren’t growling like a lawn-mower.
Resisting the urge to kill now and ask questions later, I acted all stealthy and followed via the rooftops. In absence of the low-pitched growling was nothing, no talking or snarling or anything, and it really had me confused. One of the things vampires weren’t known for was their “inside voices”. I followed at a distance, trying to keep out of reach of their senses of smell, and it was working, until I tripped on a loose pipe and fell to the ground with a loud and painful thud. Not exactly one of my most graceful landings.
I jumped to my feet, my hand automatically hovering over Pointy’s handle, awaiting the rush of the vampires I was supposed to be sneaking up on, but it didn’t come. They didn’t even acknowledge the fact that some guy with a sword had fallen from the roof. “Hey, are you three just gonna pass up a free meal?” I shouted, but they ignored me and kept on walking. I had to say, I was slightly offended.
They continued to march towards the docks, oblivious to my presence. I followed, but opted for the more subtle, ground-level pursuit. I was making the intellectual leap that since these creatures were semi-civilized and not killing every little thing that fell from a roof, they were connected to something unusual. It may not end well, but it was a start. The three vampires continued their monotonous march through the winding maze of streets until the water was in sight.
They rounded a corner and met with a group of people, people who didn’t even seem to notice their demonic and hellish facial features, which definitely meant that these folk were up to no good. I paused at the corner and lingered in the shadows, not sure of what I was going to do next. I was almost morally torn about whether I was okay with hacking humans to pieces, it sounded like fun but I’m sure there would be repercussions in the long run, soul-wise. I put the dilemma out of my mind and focused on the scene in front of me, trying to discern what was happening more than anything else.
A boat was being unloaded with crates of something, regular shady business, but the strange thing was that the entire transaction was being observed by vampires stationed at various positions. And they were all perfectly behaved, not ripping the humans’ limb from limb or anything. This night was getting stranger and stranger, even for me. There was one man wearing a quite expensive-looking business suit fraternizing with another man who I assumed was the ship's captain. Everyone looked like they belonged in the scene, except for one girl standing in the corner. I was assuming that this was the drug trade I was looking for.
Now I’m not normally the type whose thoughts are ruled by that other thing, but the girl in the corner was quite frankly one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. She had flowing brown curly hair, and beautiful blue eyes, despite the dark rings around them. She had a stunning face, even though it was gaunt from lack of sleep. She seemed so fragile amongst all the evil surrounding her, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and was darting looks at everyone around her in a very paranoid fashion, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, even though I knew I should. Eventually, I pried my eyes away from her and back to the trade.
One of the men in suits handed a briefcase to who I guessed was the owner of the boat. The man opened it, examined it contents and snapped the lid shut again. All the crates of some unknown substance were being transported into nearby storage boxes by people in forklifts. And one thing I wasn’t expecting was that the man in the suit had pure black eyes.