[M]The Echoes of Hunger: Sealed in Blood(IC)

[Vivienne]

"Wait!" Matte said, somewhere between normal voice and a shout. She wasn't sure if this was a great idea or not, but if she looked the part, she might as well act the part. "I'll make you a deal," she said to the female mortician; women usually listened to reason far better then men anyway, "you and your friend here help me until nightfall. A basement, a sewer; I'm negotiable. Plus, let me put my friend in your incinerator there, unless you want another vampire running around, no?" Matte looked at the two of them, trying her best to negotiate a deal between parties, and continued, "In return, no harm comes to either of you. If you think I'm being callous, my alternative is to drain the pair of you, bring my friend back, then we tunnel deep enough to wait it out so to speak. At least my way, we all get out of this alive."

Matte wasn't sure if she still could negotiate as she wanted with her physical disposition what it was at the moment, but she thought it best to try and avoid anyone else dying this day if she could help it. To be honest, she had no idea what Sibil's condition was; she listened, tried to hear if there was any noise at all coming from Sibil, but to be honest there might not be if she was a Vampire. Matte was as lost as these morticians right now, but she had to act the part if she wanted to get out of here. One thing she was sure of was that she'd at least see that Sibil didn't share her fate if she hadn't already if she could help it. If Sibil really did carry the plague, as was accused earlier, than it was probably in everyone's best interest if she met a noble end in conflagration.

She looked at the two morticians, as much etiquette and sincerety behind her words as she could muster right now, and said to them, "Do we have a deal?"

[Tolvo]

The male mortician nodded his head while the woman looked horrified. She simply ran out the door with her arms above her head. Cowardly as he was the mortician rushed past Matte and to the incinerator. A trio of people came running into the mortician's waiting room. They were clad in blue uniforms with silver buttons, and silver swords. Silver beaked helms adorned their helms and resembled a bell with a crow's face. Through the helm the leader shouted at Matte and pulled out a gun. It was exceptionally long and had strange pipes jutting from it that she could feel the heat of. "Halt Vampire, don't turn that body, don't turn any of them!" As he spoke the mortician began to babble. "We don't have a cellar nothing I don't know where any are please just put her in the incinerator don't let her come back!" The silver helmed leader heard this and pointed the gun at the mortician. "Shut up, you are already likely infected, get in the incinerator too!"

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia subconsciously rubbed her wrist where the laughing moon tattoo was inked as she stared out across the black ocean. A breeze tickled her through her clothes, forcing her to wrap her woolen cloak around her tighter. Her companion, Bertthard stopped being a good conversationalist many days ago. His sour mood seemed to poison any conversation into an argument.

She leaned against railing of the Cog ship as her eyes glazed over and her thoughts turned inwards. Her ashwood glaive was also nearby, slumped over a pile of rope. Its blade sharpened to perfection. There wasn’t much else to do. Where would her sister go in the Great City? Where would be the first place Stella would look for their mother? What if she succeeds? Lucia banished the thoughts. Their mother was dead. There was no way their mother was still alive, and in the Great City of all places.

Lucia’s expressions turned to a frown as movement caught her eye beneath the black surface. A face contorted into an expression of fear and panic stared back her. Lucia’s eyes widen as she recognized the features and the tattoo upon her arm.

“Bertthard! Wake up!” Lucia darted across the ship to grab her glaive. As she picked it up, she glanced at the pile of ropes the glaive was previously resting on. An idea sprang into her head.

“Bert, my sister’s drowning! We found her! Help me here!” Her spry hands wrapped the rope around her thin waist a few times before tying it off. She then tied it around the mast a few rounds before tossing the rest to Bertthard.

“Hold tight and pull me up when I saw so. My sister needs help. Maybe I’ll give you a kiss when this is done.” A acrobat and dare-devil at heart, Lucia leaped over the side of the cog. However she didn’t plunge straight into water. But instead she used the rope’s tension to hold her in place as she stood on the ship’s hull. She stood completely perpendicular to the ship’s walls. Her feet firmly planted on the wood as she stared directly forward into the murky water.

She dangled her glaive into the water, hoping her sister would manage to grab onto the weapon. But only the bladed portion managed to strike the water. She needed to go lower.

“Lower me a tad bit Bert! I thought you sailor-boys were strong! Come on Sis! Grab on!”

[Tolvo]

At first the big lug didn't want to stir. "Not now I'm daydreaming, there's this wicked hot chick underwater, kinda looks like you." At first provocation he finally got up. "There ain't nobody there!" He blurted it out but grabbed onto the rope at her command. Then he looked overboard and started freaking out. "Oh the gods someone's down there! Hey everybody wake up someone overboard!" Bertt let her lower down as others came rushing to see what was going on. They all stammered and began to shout at the person who looked to be drowning. "Something ain't right!" The captain yelled at them and threw a rope into the water that floated near to the drowning sister.

Finally one sailor had enough of this. They dove over the side and into the water and began to swim toward the sister. Then her hands gripped the glaive. Bertt started to pull her up but then stopped. "Holy shit what does your sister weigh? Is she a whale? No offense meant!" Under the water her sister's face twisted to glee as she firmly held onto the glaive with an iron grip. Down below the sailor who dove over screamed under the black water as bubbles hit the surface. A large shape under the water of a twenty foot creature started to come closer. It had teeth like jagged lances, two giant bulbous eyes, spikes along its back, and short stubby fins. Much of its body was mouth and a tendril from the front of it connected to her sister, whom which began to glow brightly. The sailor was ripped in half in a single bite as the others began to scream and reach for the rope Bertt held to pull her up.

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia mentally berated herself for taking the bait so easily. Blinded by her passion to find Stella, Lucia threw caution to the wind. Now a poor sailor lost his life due to Lucia’s bullheadedness. She had to maintain vigilance against all dangers, unknown and known.

Lucia attempted to wrestle with the fake-Stella for the weapon for a brief moment. Lucia clutched her teeth as she realized she had a choice of losing her life or her weapon. But losing the glaive would guarantee her death in the future anyways.

She had to take a risk. Bert was pulling on the rope with Lucia attached to it. It was like a massive tug of war. However, one didn’t need to be a fortune teller to understand who was eventually going to win in this competititon.

“Bert, drop me a few feet! Yes, I am crazy. Didn’t you know that? I jump off ropes and juggle knives for a living”, ordered Lucia. She maintained her grip on the glaive with one hand and with the other, she yanked out her knife.


Lucia dropped down to just a couple feet above water level. With a tremendous yell, she jammed her razor sharp knife over and over into arms of the fake-sister. Filthy blood spewed from the arms as the grip loosened on the glaive.

"Someone toss something into the bugger's mouth! Aren't you guys hungry for some fish?!"

[Vivienne]

Matte looked at the trio of crow-men and tried to whip up a plan. With the leader's gun pointed at the poor mortician, who was just doing his job before all of this started, she whispered under her breath, "I'm really sorry about this," and hurled Sibil's body boomerang-like, twurling at the three crow-men at roughly chest level. To take advantage of the situation, Matte dove underneath the twurling dead body and lashed out with her claws, targeting the legs of the leader with the gun first, and his two associates second.

Once the three men were done, howling in pain, Matte could smell the blood coming from their mangled legs. Part out of instinct, part out of hunger, and part out of trying to get out of this alive, she quickly ripped the helms off the two sub-ordinates and used her claws to rip out their throats, or at least something that would keep them busy struggling to survive. She then ripped off the helm of the leader, and bite into his now-exposed throat, draining him of his vital life essence. Matte didn't really know what she was doing, but instint took over at this point, as well as a look slice of fear should she not be able to get to night quickly enough. She made a bit of a mess in her inexperience and haste, but it was incredibly refreshing to get some much-needed nourishment.

Satisfied for the moment, she looked at the gun and, quickly guessing, figured that was for her. Taking the glove off it's owner, as best as she could considering the claws and all, she picked up the gun and tossed it into the incinerator, lest it be used for some unfortunate purpose. She looked back at the now-single mortician, who was likely traumatised by this point, and said, "They want you to jump in the incinerator. I'm guessing you don't have much of a future out there anymore. You're welcome to work with me until we get out of this, at which point we can go our seperate ways or you can work with me; it's up to you, but choose quickly," and with that Matte threw the now four bodies into the incinerator for combustion, as well as the silver swords, just in case. She looked at the mortician and said, "Turn it on," not wanting to know if Sibil and/or any of the others were coming back because of her...

[Tolvo]

In the flash of a moment a gun went off. It had been pointed at the mortician but instead Sibil's flying body was struck. Rather than a normal bullet what came from the gun was a shell coated in flame which bored into Sibil's leg and caught her body on fire. Then it struck the three of them. They were knocked down followed by their evisceration. Their leader quivered in fear as Matte drained him of his life. Through it all he was conscious while the others gurgled on the ground holding their throats. One took a swipe with their silver sword and it hit Matte in the shin. This nearly hobbled her but thankfully drinking the leader regenerated her leg wound. Blood pooled around them filling the area with a great fragrance.

A sword stuck out of Sibil's chest which Matte retrieved before throwing it into the furnace. Then she got to shoving as many bodies as she could in along with the weapons of the trio. The mortician was mortified. He fell the ground crying as she spoke to him. He curled up and covered his head whimpering. That was when one of Matte's fears was realized. A hand grabbed her firmly from within the furnace. "My lady, where are we?" Sibil's arm was coated in blood but even now Matte could see her claws starting to form. Outside came another problem. A bottle of liquid hit the front of the building as bricks shattered the window. Those outside had started lighting bottles on fire and tossed them at the building, a fire was starting along the front of the building.

---

Bertt let her down a bit while the captain roared and bellowed at her. "Drop the damn weapon it ain't worth your life!" There came a deafening scream as Bertt flexed with all of his might, muscles bulged and rippled across his chunky body, he gave up a bit of the rope and let Lucia down lower. "Ahhhh damn it all you wild woman!" Then she was able to stab her false Stella in the hand. This illusion let go and released to show it was a finned black creature with large wide-set eyes and blue arms and legs that was attached to the larger creature. A deep blue blood that was runny and milky shot out all over her. It receded and Bertt began to pull Lucia back up.

The greater fish rose up after her with its maw wide open. She could see it unhinge its jaw so wide it became larger than the boat itself. This made it look like it could swallow the boat whole but its body wouldn't be able to hold them. Others around through grappling hooks into the mouth of the creature which they tied to the sides of the ship. "We're going fishing!" This was all well and good for a moment until they realized they that there was no good way to haul it aboard. Lucia suddenly saw everything fade to blackness. The last thing she heard was Bertt yelling her name.

When she awoke she was tied up. Her glaive was being held by Bertt as the entire crew were on deck. Bertt looked sad and held her glaive with respect in his big meaty hands. The captain circled around her, she was tied to a mast. "Good you're waking up, how do you feel?" Some of the crew began to shout. It was the dead of night, there were no stars or a moon in the sky. Things were mostly dark except for where a brazier had been lit on the deck which others huddle around. The light reached Lucia who was still a bit groggy. Then her senses hit her.

She could hear Bertt's heartbeat above everyone else's. It was quite a bit larger and louder. There was a strange rhythm to it. On everyone was a scent of blood, in their veins. It pumped through them, it danced in a symphony she could both hear and smell. At the end of Lucia's hands were claws. Her skin had turned a pale blue, her mouth was full of thick fangs, and she had a deep seated hunger for blood. The captain turned to her again and asked a series of questions. "What happened, what did you see down there? What are you now? Are you a threat to us?"

[Low-Budget Man]

Lucia blinked the grogginess away from her eyes. Her tongue moved over her razor fangs, feeling its sharpness cut into her tongue. She flexed her fingers in experimentation. There was an uncanny strength to them. She shifted her body into a more comfortable position, feeling her muscles tense and tighten beneath the rope. They felt…cold

She licked her lips as her hunger intensified. The Captain stared at her with his blazing blue eyes, protective of his crew. She glanced at the rope tied around her as she briefly struggled against them, more to test their strength instead of an actual attempt to escape.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. We were fighting the fish, and then it just became dark. What happened? Did it eat me?”, Lucia breathed in a hoarse tone..

“I feel different, but I think I can control myself. I’m still Lucia.” She neglected to mention her hunger for blood. How she could almost taste the scent coming off everyone. Her throat felt parched and her moaned for something.

She glanced at Bertt, holding her glaive. “Keeping it warm for me? Can you sailors cut me down. You’re all being ridiculous.”


Lucia’s red tongue slipped out from her mouth to wet her lips. And she reflexively flashed a smile. However, instead of disarming them with a charming grin, she displayed rows of fangs.

[Vivienne]

"This day keeps getting better and better," Matte mumbled under her breath as she heard the crackles of fire. She grabbed Sibil's hand and quickly said, "No time to explain, details later. Right now we have a problem," as Matte hauled Sibil out of the furnace. She turned quickly to the mortician and said, "I have an idea; work fast. Get me as much water as you can muster, in buckets is fine, a sink if you can manage it." The mortician took off, not having too far to go as this was a morgue. Meanwhile, Matte sized up herself and Sibil with the crow outfits with whichever outfit fit best. There would be a problem regarding the claws, but she'd worry about that later. She was hoping the 'witness' outside wouldn't lead events this far, but it seems fate had a different story to tell.

By now, Sibil had her claws fully out and had a look on her face suggesting that explanations were in order. Matte ordered, "Sibil, there'll time for that later. Get this on, cover yourself as much as possible, Matte said, handing Sibil one of the crow outfits that likely fit her best. "Get some strips of blanket and wrap them around yourself under the crow outfit to keep the light off; I'll explain later." She did the same herself, mummifying herself before putting on the ill-fitting but servicable outfit. By now, the mortician had returned with some buckets of water. Matte told the Mortician to get on the remaining crow outfit, then applied the water generously to Sibil, then to herself, then to the Mortician when he was done. By this time, the flames were getting a little to the hot and aggressive side, so Matte came up with a quick game-plan to help them get out of this alive.

She turned to the Mortician and said, "You know this area better than anyone, and we need your help. Can you get us to a safe-haven? A warehouse, you place, a barn, something not in the wide open?" Matte was hoping that this mortician was 'on the level', but seeing as how the previous mortician was more than happy to bolt instead of acting logically, she didn't want to assume this person was any better. She kept her eyes and ears open for a possible means of escape at all times. She wasn't 100% sure if horses would be a good idea right now, so Matte made a mental note to leave them as a worst case scenario. There was also the Sibil problem; Matte had somewhat come to grips with her current situation, but Sibil had no idea what in the world was going on. Sibil would definitely have to be watched, just in case.

[Zed]

It was black. No awareness. No consciousness. It was nothing. Then a voice in his head, but sounding as if far away. Was it real?

Alton stirred, if only mentally, as his body was like lead. It would not be moved. But then the voice again, clearer now. It had an awakening affect. He began to mentally connect to his body, though movement was still lacking. He could he was whole bodied and nude. After what seemed an eon of effort, he was able to open his eyes to see the bloodied wounds on his body before his head fell back with a thud.

His sense were coming back, smells. It was a glorious and yet terrifying feeling all at the same time. He wasn't dead, but where was he and what had happened to him. He didn’t hurt, which was odd based on the state of his body, what little he saw of it. Taste. Blood. He tasted blood, he tensed. Was he dying and he just didn’t know it? He had heard that could happen. He had seen it happen. Old Freid, when the tree fell atop him, was smiling and saying he felt fine, it was peaceful and then he died. Was this what was happening to him?

There were more sounds, a female voice, dismissive and annoyed, then rending flesh and screaming death howl. His hand clenched in reaction, he tried to bow up from his prone position, but it did no good, he remained as he was. The voices came closer. The Nun.. he smelled the Nun. He drew another deep sniff, flowers. The voice from a moment earlier, speaking to him, but his sense were clouded by the smell of blood. This was a smell he knew well. The smell of a fresh kill, the smell when he would dress the meat. He was hit with a craving as he had never had before.

The cell door was rent from its holdings, and the voice asked again, as the blood flowed over him. This time he heard her, and replied in what he intended to be strong denial of the latter, but in truth it came out as a raspy guttural whisper, “I am no beast…” In his mind’s eye he could envision himself tearing into the throat of a deer, drinking in its essence, its life blood, and then as the vision intensified, the deer became a man.

A thought that would once cause repugnance, now filled him with a sense of purpose, challenge..and power. His body stronger now, as he sat up and dressed in the clothes carelessly tossed on the floor. He stared at the female in the red garb, as he dressed. His eyes never left her. Had she saved him? He canted his head slightly to the side, as he tried to get a better view of her. The nun he ignored. It was clear the nun was subservient to female in red, and it was the female’s authoritativeness that drew him. Who was she and what did she have planned?

Subconsciously Alton had joined a side, a cause, reason for being. It was something that he had not had, in his old life. Yes his old life, it was gone. Now was his rebirth. His awakening. Once he was fully dressed he bowed politely, “I am Alton.. And you are?”