//Author Note: I would strongly urge you to read Rotten Æther | Scribble Hub alongside this story. Shared world and setting, with crossovers coming!//

 

All exits are now barred, and not simply by one set of protections. The guards outside surely know that something is wrong, but their inaction speaks of complicity. How involved are they in this scheme? How many plots are coming to fruition right now?

How much of this was planned by the others here with me?

Some are more visibly distraught by this turn of events than others, but it is the nobles that catch my eye first. Their horror is nothing but honest. They cry, recognising the servant that has become our dinner, and panic at the realization that their home has become a prison. Their children pale in confusion, responding quickly to their parent’s cries.

If I know anything about vampires, it is that the children will not be given any measure of leniency. No, they will be used as focuses for the fear and terror that the hunter wishes to birth into this home if they are not simply slaughtered to be made into cruel effigies to corrupt the air further. My own tactics certainly speak to the efficacy of such cruelties.

The lady of the house rages, screaming at the murderer who can quite certainly make out each word. None but her own children seem bothered by the sound.

The gang members are cautious, and disgusted, but not overly surprised. They were aware, if not outright involved, in this evening’s killings, and the closing off the estate from the outside world. Their intent, if the rumours I’ve heard have any veracity, is to trap the vampire that is trying to trap them, though they should not know much of vampires, seeing them more as an opposing criminal element.

I had thought that the vampire here would be much like myself. Coming as guests invited, yet I see none here with us. The nobles, the gang members, and a few rich merchants and craftsmen, but none seem to be undead.

Are they disguised? Is it possible for me to somehow miss the sight of them? Or are they even hidden among the servants? Or just hiding as a common cut-throat in the shadows of the room?

This is not how I had expected things to go.

“Tina,” Belle whispers into my ear, her eyes focused on the children. Is it even right for me to consider them children? The oldest are boys and girls only a few years younger than us.

“I know,” I reply. “We should pull them away. They’re perfect victims, and it will not end well if they are left vulnerable.”

“What do we do?”

“We’ll find the one behind this before they can do anything more.” Though I doubt we’ll be perfectly successful in catching them before more die. I still need to try and find out what they’re after here. They want to see the gang suffering, and dying, but for what reason?

Is it simply that they are competing for territory? Do the vampires simply act as a criminal gang over these lands? Or is there something more to this?

Is there a justification that would excuse these deaths and killings, or is it more cruel hubris by those who think that they ought to stand above all others? Where should I stand in this situation? For what reason do I hunt them? Why do I seek answers?

I should already know the truth.

I wish to learn who I am.

I need to know what it means to be a vampire, why I was killed, and what this conspiracy means for my future as a noble of this kingdom. What might I do to change things for the better? What foolish actions would leave me dead for the second time?

The others are nearly done processing their horror and disgust. They stare at the man on the platter, some emptying their stomachs, each with their own measure of lacking dignity. Not that I will judge them poorly for it. They are each human, and even the gang members were not expecting such an overwhelming display of power. I expected a little more subtlety, at least.

Not a whisper in the distance hints at some monster hiding in the walls, though if they are not at the table then where else might I expect to find them? This is the work of my kind, of that there can be no doubt.

What is their next step in this, then?

The fact that they have so quickly created this air of horror, but not yet acted on it, suggests that they may be delaying for some reason. Allowing the terror to steep in the air for a while before acting further, but I cannot be confident in that conclusion. This all seems too much and too soon. I would have my cast of victims turn on each other, plant evidence that one or another of them is the killer, and turn them on one another, yet I’ve seen no indication of such manipulations.

Reeve Lewark stands from his seat, looking over the corpse that is set out on the plates before us, perhaps seeking clues that have been overlooked by the rest of us in our dazed states.

“No messages, or notes,” he comments. “The body was the message in itself, I suppose.”

“That and the walls closing us off from the world,” I say. “We are trapped here with the killer.”

“Are you sure that we’re trapped?” He asks, “We must properly check on the defences and see that it is not a simple trick.”

“We must, but I suspect that the walls will be too challenging to pass through in any short time,” I say. “I heard the rumbling of powerful earth magics outside. Unless we have a talented earth mage here with us, then I suspect that it will take us some time to escape. Though perhaps, these same boundaries will keep the killer from escaping us as well.”

It may in fact be the gang’s own schemes that layered the earthen walls over those of shadow.

“You heard something the rest of us didn’t?” Drake turns his attention to me. “Did anyone else hear something like that?”

“I didn’t,” Jake, the gang leader, says, reaching for a knife.

“I have refined senses,” I explain. “The reeve is right in saying that we should check but expect we’ll find earthen walls beyond those of shadow.”

“Alright, don’t stab me in the back,” The gang leader strides out of his seat, the one with visible æther veins hovering at his side like a protector. They stand at a window, the leader holding out a hand. He chants quickly, pulling the stone from the tiles at our feet and balling it before him. Lord Pearl and I both flinch at the casual use of chants in such a situation, it’s almost like bringing a training sword into a battle, but we both refrain from comment.

As his chant reaches its final lines, the semi-liquid ball of stone bursts outwards, spearing through the glass, the shadow, and the earthen wall beyond it.

The compacted soil forming the wall regenerates quickly as the stone spike retreats, allowing not even a glimpse of the world outside. The leader stares at the wall as the shadow quickly covers it over again.

“It seems that you were correct,” he says, turning back to the table. The others from his gang seem unsurprised by the finding. It is difficult to be sure of anything at this point, but I’m increasingly convinced that the earthen wall was put into place by the gang’s own mages.

“What do we do?” Lord Pearl asks, searching his guests for an answer. “There is a murderer in this house, and some terrible power has trapped us inside with them. What do we do?”

“We find them and see justice done,” Jake says, levelling a heated glare my way.

I nod swiftly.

“I agree,” I say. “This foe is best overcome with direct force. We should locate them quickly, trap them, and seek answers.”

“Send your servants to gather the people of this house,” Reeve Lewark orders. “Everyone should move in groups. We should all gather in the main foyer immediately. We’ll identify who the victim on the table is and try to puzzle out the killer’s location and identity.”

“Surely you don’t think it could be anyone at the table?” Drake asks, shaking his head. “It would have to be a servant, to have the victim prepared and delivered in such a state, I would have to think that it is half your staff! Besides, no one could willingly eat the flesh of their fellow man.”

“I can assure you that such people do exist,” I reply, trying not to glance at Vael, whose empty plate should be sufficient evidence of that.

Jake’s eyes remain firmly focused on me, which is only twice as troubling since the man beside him with the visible æther veins is the sort of threat that I wouldn’t want to cross.

With all haste, we leave the dining room table, keeping together but separating into smaller groups and eyeing each other with some lingering suspicion, though there is no need for it. It’s too difficult to tell who among us could be the vampire, but there are means of testing it. Yet that would result in my own nature being revealed, which is less than desirable.

Belle moves to keep an eye on the children, ready to fight should the hunter decide to go for the weakest among us. Though, with their weeping and desperate terror, I feel that our villain will allow them to stay for long enough to fuel his further magics.

Their suffering is equally enervating to my own cruel nature.

“The people in your house were slain, weren’t they? By these same foes?” Jake asks, peering down at me. He stands a hand taller than me and has his hand on a dagger ready to draw. “You survived where all the others died?”

“Now I am pursuing those that would do the same to this family,” I wave to the lord and lady of the house. “While I am not sure about my stance on revenge, I would very much wish to interfere with their plans. It would be even more important to understand what those plans are.”

“You were one of the few who didn’t eat the entrée,” he says, eyeing me carefully. “You didn’t even seem affected by the shocking scene of a man’s dying screams unveiled before us as flesh sits on our plates. How do we know that you aren’t involved?”

“I suppose you can’t know,” I reply. “The same can be said for near anyone in this room. Though, I am not wholly convinced that these events are truly a surprise to you, either. It is just that I better understand the quarry that we are both seeking to hunt.”

“Excuse me?” he asks.

“This evening’s event is well enough known in the right circles. You are here to hunt a certain prey, and tonight may as well have been an invitation. You are here as bait, and rather than setting out my own trap, I feel more secure in poaching yours.”

“Oh?” he asks, peering closely down at me. “So you are after them?”

“We work toward the same goals this evening. I cannot say that the same will be true once we leave this house. I have my concerns about how you have enforced the peace in this section of the town, but I will not allow that to interfere with what we must do this evening… Oh, that may not be good…”

“What is it?” Jake asks, glancing at the shadows around us, but that is not where the issue lies.

“Reeve Lewark,” I call out to the man as we arrive at the foyer of the house. “Could you have everyone be silent for a moment, I need to confirm one fact quickly.”

“Everyone, quiet.” Reeve Lewark calls to the group. “Stay quiet for a moment, please. Lady Greystone here has strengthened senses, and may have noticed something.”

The room quiets for the most part, but their attention centres on me soon after. They are suspicious and worried, for good reason, too.

I close my eyes and listen. In the quiet of the room, I can hear the pounding hearts of the people around me but apart from that, there is silence. I wait for a time just to be sure, but there isn’t even a whisper, not a single footstep, or desperate breath to be heard.

“The servants should have been back by now,” I say. “They were gathering the others in this house, and they should be with us by now.”

“Perhaps they were waylaid by the killer.”

“I’m certain that they were,” I reply. “This house is silent, Lord Pearl. Your servants are dead. This killer is not willing to let this take all night, it seems.”

“We sent them away just seconds ago, they would not die so soon. Not without a scream or a cry!” The man says, stepping forward quickly, “No, they will come.”

“You should hope that they do not,” I say. “Reeve, from our experiments, how long do we have before it takes effect?”

“A half hour at the very least, usually longer,” Lewark says.

“How long does it take to cook a man’s flesh through and have it served and delivered?”

“An hour or more,” He nods, drawing a knife from his robes. “Everyone, be ready for battle!”

“What is this about?” Drake asks, watching the rooms around us searching for the phantasmal villain. Up the stairs in particular would be a terrible place for ghouls to come for us. They could fall upon us in but a moment.

“We are beset by a monster,” I say. “It will feed on your blood and your fear, then your corpse will arise as a monster. We will make it through this, do not let yourself be fooled and do not lose hope.”

“Keep this room well lit, and use fire magics,” Reeve Lewark calls to them. “Stay together!”

Footsteps pound on the walkways above us, as if the entire staff of this house has gathered together and now marches as if a formation of soldiers.

“They are coming!” I shout, drawing my new frost dagger with one hand while gripping my wooden stake in the other.

They gather at the top of the stairs, their flesh cold and pale, their uniforms dishevelled, though the dead do not care. These are not the ghoulish monsters that I was expecting to see, they are orderly, much too orderly.

“My servants!” Lord Pearl shouts, trying to step forward, but his wife holds him back. Her eyes focused on the inhuman qualities of the monsters.

“We are the instruments of your demise.” The whisper would seem to come from the ghouls, but I suspect that it is an illusionary spell carrying the message of a vampire well hidden.

“We will be your death,” the vampire whispers. The charging line of corpses makes up for any lacking performance. The vampire will sit and wait for a chance to strike us, we cannot give him that chance.

The ghouls break formation, and instantly the image of a mindless monster is returned to them. Their faces are twisted up with savage hunger, they care not for their allies, pulling each other down and stomping on those who are fallen.

The first line reaches us and I hold out my stake to impale the young servant that leaps for me. Was this what it felt like for my servants before I killed them?

The first of them impales itself on my enchanted stake, disappearing in a puff of ash. My servants should have murdered me in the same way.

 

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