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| Chapter Seven: Dark Tidings | |||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||
| Night began to fall around the tower. Rumors had flown like leaves in the wind about the fight that had happened the night before. Tamina and a few of her council exited the tower and looked up at the roof that the fight had taken place on. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Do you think he survived?" one of them asked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I don't know. I know that Followers of Set are not overly durable against the damage caused by the sun," she began as she looked over and saw a car that had been flattened by the base of the building. "If he did not find cover - he perished. If he did - the game is still in effect," she added with a smirk. From the corner of her eye she could see that a manhole cover was slightly askew. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Do you want us to look for him?" one asked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "No - the prince is holding a conclave. Our presence is required elsewhere," she answered as a limo pulled up in front of them. | |||||||||||||||||
| If you chose to take cover in the sewers Calloway - you must have been very desperate. She thought to herself as she and the others entered the car and drove off to the location where the conclave was being held. | |||||||||||||||||
| At that moment in the sewer below - a trail of dead ghouled animals littered the sewer waters - marking a path of carnage that led under a nearby building. | |||||||||||||||||
| There on a pipe - Calloway sat and gasped. | |||||||||||||||||
| He had not slept. | |||||||||||||||||
| He had not fed - save for what he could bleed from the corpses of the foul tasting creatures he had slaughtered. He shook his head and wanted to scream. He was lucky - damn lucky to be alive. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I underestimated those little bastards," he muttered. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Something is this way," a voice carried over the sewer. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Great - that is just what I need," he muttered. He hopped down from where he was sitting - splashing into the unclean water. He then picked up an oversized rat corpse. He wound up and threw the dead rat with all his strength into the tunnel. He listened and could hear the dead thing skipping along the water's surface. | |||||||||||||||||
| "This way! I hear it," a familiar voice added. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Let this work," he muttered as he leaped over and pushed himself up into the corner of the room. Carefully digging his fingers into the concrete and bricks - he climbed up until he was pressed up against the roof. | |||||||||||||||||
| Just then - Grater and a hunting party of Nosforatu entered the room and saw the busted grate. They could see the waters' rippling down the normally sealed passage. | |||||||||||||||||
| "That way! A boon to whoever finds the pest and brings him to me!" Grater hissed. Calloway smiled as his skin shifted from flesh to scales. He watched as the Nosforatu hurried down the passage. "Someone will learn that you do not enter our labyrinth and leave unscathed," he added sweetly. | |||||||||||||||||
| He heard a hissing noise. | |||||||||||||||||
| Before Grater could react a blur of motion shot from the roof and slammed his head into the concrete wall before him. He tried to call out but a hand clamped his mouth shut. | |||||||||||||||||
| The Primogen tensed up as he felt an elongated mouth clamping into his neck. He tried to free himself - but the grip of his attacker was too strong. Slowly Calloway began to heal his wounds as he fed. Once he was healthy enough he drilled his elbow into the back of Grater's head knocking him out. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Who lies unscathed now rat? he whispered as he dropped the Nosforatu Primogen into a pile of floating sewage. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Nice place," a voice mocked. Calloway jumped and banged his head on a pipe. He looked over and saw Luther smiling a smug smile at him. "You think you will be able to get away with doing what you did to him?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "That - is none of your concern," he retorted as he followed the trail of dead ghoul animals back to where he entered from. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Of course not. So - tell me hero - sleep well?" the ghost mocked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Oh yes - I had lots of time to sleep between constant attacks by these - these - things," he answered in disgust as he kicked a mutated snakelike thing out of his way. He then staggered and almost fell into a stream of stinky sewage. Luther laughed. | |||||||||||||||||
| "This - is so priceless," the ghost mused as he floated over and stared Calloway in the eye. "The delirious war hero - can barely stand and is on the brink of dying in a sewer with the rest of the shit," he mocked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Shut up!" Calloway growled as he slammed his fist through the body of Luther. A clanging noise sounded as his fist indented into an old iron pipe. Luther laughed as Calloway staggered back cradling his broken fist. | |||||||||||||||||
| The ghost fell over laughing when Calloway tripped and fell into the sewer water and for a few seconds vanished from sight. Seconds later an enraged assassin emerged. He wiped the pieces of shit and other waste byproducts from him as he leaned against the wall behind him. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I will not - go out like this," he hissed. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Oh - oh please do that again. I haven't laughed this hard in fifty years," Luther mockingly begged. Calloway closed his eyes and focused. He had to open his eyes as he felt his mind drifting off to sleep. "Go on take a nap - close them eyes," the ghost suggested. | |||||||||||||||||
| Calloway tapped his head against the wall behind him. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I have endured without sleep before - this time shall be no different," he insisted. Luther sighed as he laid down on the narrow sidewalk beside the slow moving water. | |||||||||||||||||
| "If you are referring to your encounter with the Doctor - oh this is far different. You see - he was just fucking with your head. If he really wanted you dead - he had you dead to rights so many times. These people - they won't play around with you like Jest did. They won't test you for some experiment of some foul perverse sense of amusement. They want you dead," Luther corrected. | |||||||||||||||||
| Calloway blinked. Luther was right? No - he shook his head and forced himself up to his feet. It took a little bit of concentration but he manage to force the fatigue from his head. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Every now and so often - you say something that almost makes sense. Then - I remind myself - what you were when you existed in the physical sense. A manipulator - and a liar. In this state of existence - between death and final death for you - nothing has changed," he rationalized. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Denial is not just a river in Egypt," Luther piped in as Calloway slowly climbed up the ladder and moved the manhole cover aside. He slowly crawled out and looked around. | |||||||||||||||||
| He looked over and could see the car he had fallen onto the dawn before. Had anyone saw him staggering into the sewer - it would have been a clear violation of the Masquerade. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Imagine," a familiar voice remarked. "I said - imagine the surprise of the hunter - when he comes seeking a pile of weapons and charred ash and finds instead a foe that survived," Gregory continued. Calloway turned around and saw the pair of assassins. | |||||||||||||||||
| "He jumped," Seal stated as she looked at the car. She moved forward but backed away holding her nose. "He took refuse in the sewers," she added. Gregory quietly laughed as he slowly drew his weapons. He could tell by the vampire's posture that he was not at his best. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Sleep well?" he mocked. Calloway looked over his shoulder to where the Ventrue haven was. "Run - or try to and I swear I will shoot you in the back," he threatened. Calloway quietly laughed as he slowly drew his sword and a dagger. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Run? Why would I do that?" he retorted bravely. Hoping that he had enough energy - enough fuel in the tank to keep him alive. "You think one day of sleeplessness will be enough to take me down? You - will learn - the answer to the question," he hissed on the brink of rage. | |||||||||||||||||
| "What question would that be?" Seal asked as she drew her long blood-slicked daggers. | |||||||||||||||||
| "What is the last thought - that runs through the mind of a mouse - as the serpent - kills it?" Calloway hissed as he leaped at the two assassins. | |||||||||||||||||
| To Be Continued... | |||||||||||||||||