The Tales of the World

The moon hung in the sky like the ebony skin on a portrait from centuries past, and David could not stop himself hunting. Moving from building to building, block to block like a mere shadow in the night, his own skin reflecting a soft orange with the glow of the sodium street lights which he revealed himself to ever so often.

After a while of prowling, he came across 2 young clubbers walking through the streets. Remaining cloaked in the shadows, he watched as their pink and white plastic locks bounced as they stepped foward through the night. Their make up more apparent to him, then any mortal. It seemed to glow to his eyes, as if it was designed to do so, the soft curve of the dots across the womens face from the top of the brow to the underside of the other eye amused him some what, infact, their very mannor of being amused him..or at least fascinated him. They seemed more upbeat then usual mortals, much happier, contect with their lives, the dull aura's which hung around the other mortals he had come across seemed to be furthest from these 2 individuals!

Chuckling to himself, he whispered "Perhaps another night...may you enjoy this night as much as i!"

and with that he moved on.

Jacob's head span at the crash from the side wall of the warehouse. He left the body where it was and ran around the corner. Next to the wall, a little figure pulled itself to it's feet and started to run. Jacob intercepted it, and booted the creature through the air and back in to the wall, it slid downwards and crumpled on the floor.

Picking up the dazed gargoyle by the scruff of it's neck, and turned around, looking through the early morning shadows for it's master. They could be hiding in any of the alleyways between the warehouses.

"Come out then, the games up, I know you're out there. I've got your little friend, and he'll tell me who you are. Then I'll find you. You don't want to know what happens next."

Morgan rounded the corner just as Xui's delicate form drifted out of the shadows. Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Xui..?" Recovering from his surprise, he took charge of the situation. "Well, come inside I guess. Once I've seen to Miss Tremoni, you can tell me why you and this... thing were sneaking around syndicate property."

When they got to the door he gave the gargoyle's recumbent body to one of the men. That was how they entered Europe's greatest occult library. Flanked by syndicate gunmen, bearing the bodies of a gargoyle, and a boy named Michael. The entrance hall was a tiny metal box, through which they passed solemnly. Beyond that, the building seemed more like a cathedral than a warehouse. The windows were so stained with soot that no light could get through. Great circular wooden candle holders hung by chains from above, casting only just enough light to see by. Stone columns and buttresses ran upwards in to the darkness, and everywhere were books. Huge stacks of paper and leather, vellum, papyrus and parchment. Some of the books were chained shut, some were visibly tugging against their restraints. The shelves set out at weird angles to each other, like a maze.

"Why did you take on the bikers Joseph? Couldn't the librarians have handled it?"

"We were right by the door, we'd just finished an all night lesson..."

"Exactly. You were teaching a lesson. These are your students, not men for you to command. You shouldn't take those risks."

Now a group of the librarians approached through the half light. Their dark brown habits not nearly concealing the shotguns they each carried. These books were more valuable than all the gold and jewels in England. The man at the front of the group knelt before Jacob. An unnecessary formality, but there was no point arguing with these people.

"Please, make our guest Miss Xui comfortable. And find room to lay out the body..." He leaned close to the man's hooded ear... where he assumed his ear would be if he could see the man's face and whispered so no one else could hear, "watch that woman, there is something off about her."

The librarian stood, bowed deeply and ushered Xui off down a corridor. The Young men with Michael's body, and the one carrying Xui's creature followed. "Strange people, librarians." Jacob said to himself, and turned to Joseph and the rest of his class. "Thank you, we have no further need of you." The class dispersed, most of them heading straight for the door.

Jacob turned to Morgan. He could see the questions all over her face.

"Wait, it's best for you to see everything before you ask questions."

He led her down a long, narrow space between two shelves, holding a burning torch high, taking various twists and turns, passing crossroads and squares where men sat at tables reading by candlelight. "You'll get the hang of finding your way, this place has it's own logic."

"Is it a good idea, having fire near all this paper?"

"We thought that too..." He paused in his walking and turned round coming close to her, "But the books... some of the older ones... I'm talking really old" here he glanced around, "they have a... thing about electric light... they don't get on with it, it doesn't get on with them." He turned on the spot and set off again at a cracking pace.

Finally he stopped, and pulled a book from the shelves.

"Morgan, in ancient Greece, I mean, before the classical era, there was a cult dedicated to a dark spirit known as A'um Hrthak. They sacrificed many souls to him, and in return he agreed to aid, when called, any of them who carried his symbol. Many of these symbols were made before the cult was eradicated by the Spartans... and they have been scattered across the world. He tugged on a chain attached to the book, obviously to serve as a place marker. He tore it loose with little effort. "Look, here's one." He held up the chain, on the end was a red jewel, with black, metal spirals tracing their way all around it from top to bottom.

Jacob reached over and fastened it around Morgan's neck. "Your first real lesson, will be finding out how it works. A'um Hrthak is fairly easy to invoke... once you know how. Now, let's get back and see Miss Xui shall we?"

Morgan felt her very bones creaking as she stirred from sleep in the back of that sleek Merc; uncomfortable though it was in the back of the vehicle, she felt strangely well rested and a lot less unsteady than she had before sleeping. Dawn was still slowly clawing its way in through the darkness with chilly, pale fingers of watery sunlight, and Morgan shivered, realising she no longer had the warm body of Jacob next to her. That had been more comforting than she had acknowledged in her drowsy state, and she scanned around quickly for him.

There he was, with some youth, standing over the body of an even more youthful youth, who was dead. He would have looked like the closest thing possible to an angel, all blond hair and wide, innocent blue eyes - had half his face not been blown off by a gun. Such a shame, the way beautiful things are always the first to get ruined. Morgan turned away before her eyes became full of the sight of him, laying there. Her gaze went back to Jacob, and he said something she couldn't make out to the guy he'd been with and came over to her.

"Feeling any better now?".

She nodded sleepily. "Yes, thankyou for being my pillow. But if you don't mind....where the Hell are we? I thought we were supposed to be going to a library, and I may not be the most literary of people but I was lead to believe that they weren't usually littered with dead bodies...." her stomach clenched as she looked at the bloody angel again.

"Yes well I'm sorry you had to see this, it was quite unexpected...the library is within this warehouse see, because it looks desolate from the outside so no-one will pay attention to it. Obviously the bikers knew something, or at least thought they did..." he trailed off, clearly miles away.

Morgan sat up straighter on the car seat. "It's fine, it's not like I've not seen worse. It was just a bit of a shock to wake up to, that's all." Her jaw was jutted out in that defiant way that Jacob took to mean the issue was now closed.

"So what now, are we still going to go inside and look or do you reckon it's dangerous?"

"We should definately go in, we've come too far to not. I think the bikers know when they're not welcome" Jacob finished, throwing a look of disgust at the debris from the recent battle.

"Right then". With some difficulty, Morgan heaved herself from the car. "Shall we?"

"You must be lady Xui!...My name is Dacara...i am the leader of the serpent section of Master Tierells Chaos mages!, we sensed my brother David has been in this area...we merely responded to this. I do apologise for disturbing you!" and with that they slunk back in to the shadows, moments later, their presence could no longer be felt

David bowed his head and knelt infront of her, drawing his dagger, he drew it across his hand.."on my blood, i swear my loyalty to you until my final days!" he said, as the blood ran from the cut.

As he watched the blood run for a moment, David felt 3 of the covens guards closing in on their position. Healing the wound as quickly as he could, he sheathed the dagger, and put his hands on his katana's.
Xui knowing better, shook her head.."Dont be foolish...get inside...NOW!"
bowing his head, he pulled his cloak back around him and walked inside

"Who said any thing about war...the last thing i want is to drag my coven in to a battle...why do you think im so eager to leave....im more trouble for them then im worth" David said growling through his fangs..."they want to take me back so that they can incarserate me..so that i cant prove any more bother to them and their precious rules...i would have thought you out of all kin would understand that Xui!"

Xui paused for a second..."And what...pray tell do you mean by that young one?"

David knew he had over stepped his bounds...but to back down now would be stupid..."You..play the syndicate...you ordered those bikers to destroy the club...i know you did...then you went to Eisner and Accoult for help....you and i are fairly alike when it comes to playing by other peoples rules!" he said...unsure of how she would react

Jacob straightened his tie as he stepped from the lift and on to the street. It was a force of habit, rather than a conscious action. His clothes kept themselves neat.

He pulled Morgan towards him, so he could keep the chill off her as they crossed the road to the black Merc awaiting them. He opened the door and waited for her to take a seat, and slid in after her. The driver already knew where they'd be heading and the car slid quietly from the kerbside and drifted through the early morning streets like a dark ghost. The cold kept everyone off the streets, and London was like a one of the dead cities Jacob saw in his dreams.

To take his mind of that, he decided he could continue Morgan's instruction en route.

"You recall my words on the two schools of magic practiced within our organisation... Eisener and his old fools spend their lives studying rotting books so they can float a bloody penny in the air... Only vampires have enough time to master that kind of magic."

Morgan was looking at him intently, breathing in his every word. It thrilled him to have such a captive audience.

"Summoning is the way forward, Demons hold pacts with mortals dating back to mesopotamia and ancient persia. The power is unbelievable, if you can work out how to bring those ancient bargains in to effect. The difficult part is convincing them you are worthy of their help. If you're lucky they'll just ignore you, if you're unlucky..."

He stopped talking as he felt her head come to rest on his shoulder. He realised she probably wasn't used to functioning for days without sleep. He put his arm around and moved her a little closer, into a position that looked a little more comfortable, and they rested as the Merc slid towards the docklands.

They arrived almost an hour later. An uninteresting warehouse here at the docks held the largest occult library in western Europe. Glancing out of the window, Jacob saw a group of people standing by the doorway. He lay Morgan along the seat without waking her, and left the car. The area in front of the warehouse was littered with bodies. The people by the door were Syndicate initiates. Quickly he went to talk to the guy in charge, Joseph. No more than twenty, but with a hard face, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. He wore a smart grey overcoat, and there was a smoking revolver in his hand.

"What happened here Joseph?"

"Bikers Mr. Pierson. Just a few minutes ago. Came from a fucking boat on the river! They tried to break through the door, but they didn't do any damage. We came out all guns firing and they bottled. I don't think any of them got away."

Jacob saw that they had gathered all the bikes and lined them up. Most of them still looked serviceable. Could be handy later on.

"Any casualties?"

"Just the one." Joseph gestured slowly to the body that had been laid out next to the door.

Jacob knelt by the body. Michael. He was just seventeen. Jacob was opposed to letting kids join the Syndicate. But Michael was a promising student. He looked in to the boy's beautiful face, a bullet had shattered his right temple. Three more in his chest.

"We could raise him..."

"When has that ever worked out, Joseph? They never come back... right... He deserves better. He goes to the company graveyard. Burn the rest."

David smirked slightly, following Xui back over to her hiding place.."i am aware that you and my master go a way back...further more, im aware that you arent exactly holding the same moral guidlines as my master...as your murdering my young turn shows me" Pausing for a second, his eyes glowed red..."now, obviously, my coven has deployed a fair number of troops after me, and to be quite honest, i have no desire to go with them!, nor do i wish to be forced in to drawing my blades against my brothers and sisters...and its for this that i require your assistance!, you more then any one on this planet could...pursuade my master to end his quest with out taking me back to the coven, in return, i will offer you my services for all time!"

Tierell meanwhile had began to search for David... having had enough of all the playing around! but he was finding it harder and harder to track him

Taking Jacob's cue to make herself comfortable, and largely due to her still feeling woozy from the binding and at the same time electric from all the new senses that careered through her body, Morgan slid down the side of the elevator to the floor.

Jacob looked round as he heard the soft hiss of her body against the glass, and nodded sympathetically. Squatting down next to her prone form, he murmured "Yes, it definately takes some getting used to. But you will shortly become stronger than you ever imagined, and if you can control it properly, it will be a marvelous gift for you, ok? This overwhelmed phase will end soon, I promise." She turned her face towards him slowly, giving a slight nod of assent, her tired eyes straining to show she was trying to believe him.

The elevator continued to hurtle downwards, closer to the ground floor, and Morgan shuddered. She had never been fond of elevators; their speed; the cramped, claustrophobic atmosphere inside them that she imagined to be somewhat akin to being an ant in a matchbox; the fear that it might get stuck and you would be there forever - or that it wouldn't stop in time, racing gravity to the ground and your life would end abruptly, flattened into the concrete in a mess of glass and bone and goo that was formerly your body parts. On top of everything, why - why? - had they had to ride in a lift? Her mouth clamped shut against the wave of nausea threatening to overpower her.

"Hey -"

Jacob cracked a smile. "If you're going to vomit, please could you do it somewhere that's not over me? This is a nice suit!"

She glared at him.

"Ok that was in bad taste, I'm sorry. Are you feeling alright, or just a bit iffy??"

"I would say...I've definately been better. But thankyou for your concern, Mr Pierson." said Morgan, now trying to avoid the shakes that were beginning to return to her arms and legs. She was glad to be sitting down. The man gave her a look that could only be described as 'odd'.

"Please...call me Jacob."

The ghost of a smile flickered across her pale features, stretched tight from the churning in her stomach.

"But I thought you liked Mr Pierson?"

"I make some exceptions."

"I'll say no more

.....Jacob."


Time passed in silence; Morgan still slumped against the side of the glass elevator, staring out at the comet-like lights shooting across the city skyline, now with the faintest stains of pink from the impending dawn. It was a truly spectacular sight to behold, and she couldn't help feeling like she was in some futuristic sci-fi movie, or just a really good dream...but she thought with a snigger, her dreams were never usually like this. Jacob curiously raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing...I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"...dreams. Nothing in particular."

"I see. Do you dream a lot?"

"I wouldn't know. No more than the average person, I guess. Why, what about you?"

"I have lots of dreams, yes....some of them prophetic. That can sometimes be daunting, but I guess it comes with the territory."

Morgan nodded, fascinated. "What have you dreamed about that's come true?"

"That, my dear, is probably best left unsaid. If I told you...I would have to kill you."

She laughed. "Ok then. Must've been important..."

"Well, some things are more important to different people than they are to others. Just because it seems to have no effect on you, it could be life or death for somebody else."

Morgan was now acutely aware of how close they were sitting to each other; the smell of his rich cologne filled her nostrils and made her head swim, but in an entirely different way to that of a few minutes ago. She was desperate to hear him keep talking, she had never known anyone who could engage her interest so much for such a long period of time as Jacob had done since she met him - and yet she could feel herself slowly getting lost in those dark eyes, so sharp but so warm.

His hand reached out slowly, and she watched it raise up level with her face, only to take but the smallest strand of her thick, blond hair and wind it around his powerful fingers. That old bolt of electricity shot through her at their contact, and not for the first time she wondered what on earth it meant. No-one had ever had that effect on her - it was exhilerating but scary, and she thought for a minute of pulling away, making a snide comment and leaving it at that.

But it transpired she didn't even need to do that, didn't even need to make a decision, because at that second the elevator came to a smooth stop, and the doors swished open, letting in the biting chill of the night air. They had reached the bottom.

the fire illuminated his corner. Growling, he shifted from the darkness... appearing infront of her. "looks like you took my bait...Im sure my master would be very intrested to know that you have just had a new turn, incapable of defending itself murdered by a horde of savages!...but before you even think about having them attack me, or even laying a finger on me yourself, i came to talk to you...perhaps theres a.....mutual agreement we could come to?" he said, dusting the last of the embers off of his cloak.

Over the last day or so, David had felt the strong Chaos energies flowing around the town. He had been meditating on top of a large sky scraper when he first felt the rush of power and purpose that his brothers and sisters emitted.
His first reaction had been to reach for his swords, and prepare to fight..but instead he had relaxed, and tried to track each one of the 8 or so groups which he could sense. Each group in the dank and dark streets below had fanned out, creating a net like formation with the other groups, and moved through out blocks in mere moments.

Chuckling lightly to himself, David mummbled.."you wont find me like that, especially when i knew you were coming!"

Having never been one to show off his power to his brothers and sisters, David got up and walked across to the edge of the roof, and then jumped across to the adjacent roofs., eventualy making his way home for some sleep.

The next day, he had pretty much done the same, except for one slight alteration...he had ventured to the streets below to feed. Having grabbed a blonde female, he had drank her all but dry, then slit his wrist and fed her from him, turning her in to a vampire, but not giving her enough blood to become to strong.

As night began to draw on, on the third day, David had taken the new turn out on to the roof tops cradled in his arms, eventually sensing Lady Xui, he trailed her to some dark club...then dumping the new turn on the steps, he took out one of his daggers and hurled it in to the wooden door, and then slunk in to the darkness, concealing himself and his energies so that not even a high demon could sense him there, where he patiently watched for their response

Tierell awoke hours later, the piece of paper still between his fingers. Growling lightly, he got up, feeling the healing spell still hanging around him. Shaking his head, he opened the letter and read it, as he did so, he mummbled.."silly woman..i didnt heal her for that!"
Getting up he changed in to his robes and walked to the chamber he had left Xui in. As he opened the door, the 2 guards he had assigned to watch over her came to him and bowed. "We are sorry master, she evaded us!"

"I know, i half expected her to escape, not that she was a captive any way...she's a demon after all...make sure you both take your groups out tonight to feed!, I'm going to go and find David"
and with that he left.

As Tierell had promised Mr.Accoult, his choas guard made their way across town. 24 shadows floated down teh streets, converging on Accoults skyscraper building, The mortals totally unaware of the powerful presence which now inhabited their town. As they entered the building, they shifted from their shadow form, and made their way up to Accoults office, each one in full dress robes. The leaders of the 3 groups entered the office, whilst the others lined the halls, 3 lines of 7, 2 against the wall, the final line blocking the elevator.
Accoult looked at the 3 Choas vampires suspiciously... "At least your master is of his word!"

"Indeed" the central vampire spoke out.."we come here, as our master promised you, to allow you to see those whom would hunt your foe and ours, adn to protect the inhabitants of this town, mortal and demon alike!"

"And why pray tell have you brought so many to my town?" Accoult said, growling slightly.

Rising from their bow, the central vampire spoke out again.."To hunt a being whom would use the chaos magicks, you must be of the chaos yourself, with our numbers as high as they are, our job is easier. Should he use our magicks, we will know, and we will be able to force his hand in to actions of our choosing...he would not dare to aperate near any of us, we aim to create a net, forcing him in to aperating in places we chose and are able to respond to in force. The further he has to translocate, the weaker he will be!"

"A plan of great thought!" Accolt said, rising from his seat and pouring himself a whiskey.

Meanwhile, Tierell had sent the remaining guards out of the room and back to their posts. Sealing the doors with a quick chant..a red burning symbol glowing on both sides of the door. Walking over to a small alter, next to where he had laid Xui, he took a blade from the alter, and making 2 cuts on his arms, he filled a chalice with his blood, then sealed the cuts.
Walking back to where he had laid Xui, he dipped his long finger nail in to the blood in the chalice, then drew 2 small symbols on Xui's head with the blood. As he finished the symbols, his eyes turned black, his fangs grew longer. Resting the chalice down, he thought about all of the torches in the room lighting, and the inscence sticks to light. Within moments a mixture of sandlewood and a soft scent of wood burning filled the room.
As he began to chant, 4 white candles, 4 black candles and 4 green lit themselves. Moving his hands over Xui he created a small black orb of chaos energy, then he began to infuse that ball with his own magicks. As he continued moving his hands around the orb, conscentraiting on that orb, it began to grow, As it grew, 4 more chaos balls imerged out of the shadows of the room, and began to rotate slowly around Tierell and Xui in one big circle, each ball as big as the central one. After a few moments, a black link of chaos energy shot from the central ball to the ones which were cicling, making the ball grow twice as fast. Tierell held his hands stationary over Xui, palm facing down...then with one flick, the palm faced up. As he raised his arms, Xui was lifted horizontally off the slab which Tierell had laid her.
The central ball of energy was now beneath her, yet by now, it had grown and had all but enclosed Xui's head and most of her legs in its dark depths. Within moments, the central ball had encompassed her whole body, the ones which had been circling them had been absorbed. Tierell however had stepped back, and was on teh outside of the great orb.

"Let my eternal curse, be your saviour" he mummbled, his energies all but depleated, but this didnt distract him from the orb...nothing could!.

The chaos magicks aim was to break the link, and barriers which Xui's mind had formed, although Tierell was forced to feel each one of the breaks with another surge of the drain from him.

After a while of holding the energy there, and chanting, Tierell lowered his arms, and moved his hands together, causing the ball to begin to shrink and lower Xuis body back to the slab. Within moments, the ball was no more, and Xui was laid back on the slab.

Swallowing deeply, Tierell stumbled slightly, The drain of keeping the seal on the room and the spells he had cast, had taken their toll on him. The seal vanishing, Tierell walked slowly to his chamber, ordering teh guards to keep watch on Xui, and locking the door, he laid on his bed and rested.

Tierells eyes flashed red for a second as he watched over her. "I cant heal her here, your magick barriers prevent me from doing any thing bar using my chaos magicks"

Arcoult stepped foward, "And what makes you so sure, we are are going to allow you to take her, when we can heal her?"

"because, me and her go a long way back...and i have better resources at my command!" Tierell said giving a fanged grin

Arcoult stepped back.."fine..take her, but if you harm her, you will have..."

"Stop worrying Arcoult, shes as safe with me as if she was a member of my coven!"

and with that Tierell wrapped his long arms aroudn her, and summoned the darkness to envelop them. Moments later they reappeared in an anti room in a large sky scraper a few blocks down.
Entering through a set of large gold doors, he was greeted by a small platoon of hsi chaos honour guard. The symbols which adorned the walls belonged to Amora and the Crimson coven, but they werent in their home. "i take it the plan was agreed ?!" one of the honour guard said

"yes, is this building secure?" Tierell said walking past them with her still in his arms

"Yes, there are 8 platoons of the guards through out the entire building, including your chaos guard.

"well done. I need the chaos magick almanacs , as well as the books of darker magicks brought here immedietly!" Tierell said laying her down in another anti room.

The guard bowed and vanished much like Tierell was able to!

"What's the commotion in there?" Morgan asked as they breezed past Eisener's office.

"I don't know, but seeing as there are three of the most powerful mages known in this plane in that room, I'm sure they can handle it."

"Well, where are we going?"

"We, my dear, are leaving. Arcoult asked me to show you the grimoires. Our archives are in a separate, secret location." He paused at the door of the elevator. "No... we'll take the other route," He veered off down the corridor to the left. To a small, dark doorway. Utterly unimposing. It looked like a closet. The door slid aside and Jacob stepped through, Morgan followed in his wake.

"This is your new view of the city. Get used to it. Now you are aware, things will never be the same."

They were in a cylindrical glass elevator, on the outside of the building. High above the streets. The night time was illuminated, not only by the street lighting, but by other lights. The glows and flashes of magical activity. Greens and blues and colours with no human name. And every time a soul was taken in this metropolis, ascending to paradise or being dragged screaming downwards the city was filled with white light, or red flame. This was one of the many side effects of the binding. It took a lot of getting used to.

The capsule slid down the side of the building silently. Morgan was gaping at the city's new Aurora, this panorama of power and wonder, gradually moving up to meet them.

"No one can see us up here, hell they hardly even notice the building itself. The people on the streets are as thick as shit, really."

There was a pause. A silence that nothing could penetrate. The air was hot. Jacob was still worked up from his confrontation with the old man, and being embarrassed in front of that filthy parasite Tierell. He clasped the hand rail that ran along the outside of the lift, and rocked from his heels to the balls of his feet a few times. His breathing growing ever so slightly heavier with each passing moment. The minute vibrations of the machinery traveled up through both their feet, creeping into every part of them.

"We're a long way up. This lift moves slowly. We may as well make ourselves comfortable..."

Tierell bowed to Arcoult, then bowed to Morgan and Jacob in turn. Turning back to Arcoult, Tierell smiled..."it is a pleasure to make your acquaintence. I was expecting your lieutenants response to my presence taking in to concideration the bahviour of my student" taking out a sealed envelope from his robes he handed it to Arcoult, "My presence here is to officially request your permission to deploy a group of my personal honour chaos mage guards to make sure that David does not interfear with any more of your buisness, and although i am aware you could deal with him yourself, i can not order the guards who are watching him even now to stand down, and should any one attack him with over whealming force, they will respond and there is nothing i can do to stop them!"
Pausing for a second, Tierell added, "i have already sent him a message but i fear even my orders will not make him cease his actions, of course should you decline my request, i shall remain to keep a watch on him, but beyond this, my coven will not be held responsible for his actions, he has already taken the lives of all the bikers, and although i have been informed that they will return, David will no doubt respond to their living once more with his katana"

Arcoult walked back behind his desk and sat down, pouring a drink of whiskey in to a glass made of crystal, he opened the letter and read it, "It is signed by Amora, what happened to Nexus?" Arcoult asked

Tierell bowed his head slightly before raising it and looking Arcoult in the eyes, "Nexus was lost to us after the last demon wars!"

"And Amora has the support of the council and the covens around this land?" Arcoult enquired

"Yes, and she has my support, but more importantly, she had Nexus's confidence and total respect!" Tierell replied

"Okay, you may deploy your guards, but i expect them to report directly to me as if i were their master, in all their actions before they fulfil them"

Jacob shifted as if he was about to protest, "My word is final Jacob" Arcoult said, cutting him off before Jacob even got to speak

Tierell bowed his head in respect. "They will arrive tonight, please expect them to arrive within the next 3 hours, the other coven guard and i will return to the Crimson Coven!"

Arcoult chuckled deviously and shook his head, "No...you will remain, and your coven guard shall report directly to Morgan and Jacob, and assist Morgan in her magick studies, it is best that Morgan learns about vampires and gets accustomed to dealing with different races!"

Tierell growling gently, looked Morgan over, "she is still young, it would be best for her and the being inside her if the guards kept their distance from her, i have no problem to assign them to her after she has become more accustomed to herself, and what she can do, rather then filling her with the darkest magicks known on this realm, but even now she finds it hard to tolerate my presence, a group of my guards being in her proximity for elongated periods of time would only cause greater discomfort!"

.."You are very wise Tierell, very well, have it your way for now, but when i give the order, i expect total compliance!"

Morgan seemed shocked..."do i not get a say in this?!"

"No!" Arcoult said softly, "you are as Tierell has said bvery young, but you must learn to tolerate the presence of other kin other then your own!"

Bowing to each of them in turn once more, Tierell made the doors open again , turned and walked through them

Most of the warmth of the room seemed to have been sucked out by the entrance of that vampire...Morgan couldn't help but shiver as the goosebumps appeared on her skin, and she felt Jacob move nearer her protectively. There was a bitter taste niggling the back of her throat, which could only have been the pulsating dark energy from the being Mr Arcoult had addressed as Tierell. To keep as much distance between herself and the vampire, she moved away to study the titles of some of the vast array of books more closely.

She ran her finger over the tops of them, enjoying how the centimetre thick layer of dust came off so easily on her finger; she blew it away and it swirled around her face, but she didn't sneeze. One of the volumes caught her attention, with its moss-coloured, leather cover that seemed more battered than most of the others. She gently pried it out of its place, and opened it to reveal crusty, yellowing pages that she was almost afraid to touch lest they disintegrate in her hands. Lord only knows what Mr Arcoult would have made of his precious books being destroyed.

Jacob had been watching Morgan and now came closer to scrutinise the book she was holding.

"I see...interesting you picked that particular book. It contains information on how to transform one's body, into that of an animal, or even swap bodies with another human being." He watched with amusement as her eyes lit up.

"Will I be able to do...things, like this? How could you ever get enough power for it?"

Jacob smiled. He always loved getting new students, and this one looked more than promising.

"Well you've already begun, by having the power of that demon taken into you. The rest is just practice, and you must listen carefully to the things I teach you, because if it goes wrong...it could be disastrous, for everyone involved. Just trust me. And don't be scared..."

He lowered his voice and cast a meaningful look at Tierell, who was engaged in a private, murmured conversation with Mr Arcoult. Tierell sensed this and looked over, seeing them obviously discussing him. He drew himself up to his full height and smiled a fanged grin at them, his cold vampire eyes sweeping over Morgan, like a lustful human in a bar would. Or maybe more like a lion viewing the prey it just chased down, all adrenalin and desperate gnashing of teeth. And just as soon as it was there that look had gone, and Tierell turned back to Mr Arcoult without a second glance at Morgan or Jacob.

"... so I wan't you to take her over to the archives. Show her the grimoires. And the older tomes. Anything you think she could use..." Arcoult paused, as a ripple of energy moved through the air inside the office.

"What was that," Morgan asked, her voice filled with alarm.

"An unauthorised mage is in the building," Jacob answered, "that's the second time tonight... what the hell is going on? How are they getting through security?" He reached for the phone on Arcoult's desk. "I'll call the guards and have them flush the bastard out..."

"Don't worry, Jacob. I've been expecting this for some time. Do you mind?" Arcoult gestured to the door.

Jacob turned the handle and the door swung open, Xui was gone. Not that that was surprising, but in her place was a creature, rather over dressed, Jacob thought, in ceremonial robes.

"Another bloody Vampire? I told you we should have had the boundaries consecrated, their filth have no..."

"A little less of the Bigotry! Please, Jacob?" Arcoult snapped. Jacob turned away, his pride aching slightly. "I apologise, my lord," began Arcoult "for my lieutenant's poor manners. Won't you please come in?"

The vampire glided through the doorway, bringing the cold of the night with him. Morgan was visibly shivering. Jacob pulled her closer to him, and moved away from the creature.

"Now my lord Tierell," Arcoult opened his arms and smiled widely, "how can we help one another?"

i only want to know whetehr they will allow me to deploy my guards in the town...other then that, we will keep ourselves to ourselves until it is right for us to act, theres nothing else we need from them! Smiling slightly, he made his fangs retract and his cloak to vanish. he stood there just holding his staff, dressed in his coven robes of crimson and gold, a single katana in its sheath was held on his back, a small belt of throwing knives around his waist. With another glow, his staff seemed to change as well, it turned to a gold, with red serpents entwined around the shaft, the orb began to emit a soft crimson glow rather then its depthless black.
"its almost time for me to speak to Mr.Accoult, i thought i should make my self look respectable!" he said with a smirk.
"you say you want to learn their magicks, perhaps you should look in to chaos mages and our power's, it may prove useful to learn a variety of magick, you never know what enemy you will have to fight!"

This town is over run by Demons and humans with demons inhabiting their bodies, for now, my purpose is only for David, but should it come down to war, the coven's around will respond with their full force, and every being who is seen to aid them, will be dealt with swiftly, we need intel...Davids rogue actions have given us the perfect excuse to bring in a stronger presence, but proper channels for now must be followed. I'm well aware of what transpired here with regards to yourself and David, i was watching when he took that bouncers head off, i was also watching when your friend in there called him all but honourless, but as far as i could tell, his actions were forced upon him, where as his recent ones seem to be his own out bursting. I have made my presence known to you all now and only now to let you know, we arent as mythical as some would like, i guess id also like to know which side of this fence your going to fall, you know, after all we have been through i value you as a friend, but i wont hesitate in my resolve" Tierell said the orb glowing in the top of his staff for a second...

Tierell smiled, "you'll have to deal with our brothers first, although he has gone rogue they will still protect him until ordered to stand down, i would think that some thing had caused him to be angered, and the bikers were an outlet for his anger, i taught him better then to let his emotions run him, but he has become eratic in his actions, he possibly saw them as a way of training, but since they arent used to dealing with chaos mage's they were quickly over run by him, he's not one of them, you know, he may have just wanted to win the respect of those here" looking at eisener shift position, Tierell's eyes flooded red for a second...."Mr.Eisner isnt it?...It is a pleasure to make your aquaintence, as you have no doubt guessed, I am Tierell from the Crimson Coven"

Eisner growled, "i know who you are vampire, i know of your master as well, and all those who came before him, its in no small part of yours and those like you that the earth realm is like it is now, your covens and it's allies are responsible for the feelings of our kind towards yours!"

Tierell felt like replying in an unkind tone, but he knew better, "i'm saddened to hear you feel like that Lord Eisner, but i am only here to seek permission to deploy more guards here to make sure that no more of yours and your masters buisness is interupted by my race, and especially my student!"

"Then deploying more of your race here is going to interfear, if it was up to me, youd be dead already, but in these halls your safe as if you were on your own ground!" Eisener said once more growling.

"Dont presume me an easy target my lord.... should you draw a blade on me, i assure you, youd be dealt with as a demon who had trespassed on our grounds, but as i have told you, its not my intention to start a war, may me and Xui have a few moments to ourselves!" Tierell said smirking deviously.

Eisner growled once more, but nodded and walked off in to another office.

"David belongs to the coven, hence the knife i see down by yourside bares our symbol.Its that sort of interfearence we can not allow, we have become more myth then reality, but if the coven gives me leave, then i shall see what i can do, and if David doesnt push his luck i may even give him leave, and make him pledge himself to assisting you, he is a skilled swordsman, and more then that, one of the few i trained in chaos magicks, but ill leave that up to Amora and yourself to decide!

"All i saw was their dead bodies, but if they are underlings, then the chances are they will be forced back down, and ascend to the earth realm when they hav regained their strength, and David will no doubt respond with his blade or chaos magicks" sighing gently, Tierell shook his head.. "forget about that for now, i would offer you my assistance in ridding this place of the few dark forces, but the coven rules exclude none, i can bring to bear no blade or magick out side of the coven unless it directly involves the coven."

A few moments later a figure stepped out of the shadows, dressed in black and red. "My lord, i must report David has left the club!" the guard said, bowing his head.

"Thank you, return to your post!" Tierell said, nodding his head, to which the guard bowed and slipped back in to the shadows.

Tierell paused for a moment, before raising his hand, closing it in to a fist, before reopening it, summoning a flower to appear there. "Musa Ornata, i vaguely remember its your favourite?!" Its beautiful pruple petals raised around 3 small yellow stamen, with green leaves enclosing it all!"

"My presence here is unfortunatly a force of my hand by my old pupil, infact i believe its within your clubs walls that i found him, having taken apart a few thugs with his katana, unfortunatly, for reasons which we must keep confidential, the crimson coven has had to amend its policy on interfearing in matters not directly of concern to the coven, and i fear my student has broken these rules too often and will continue to do so, how did you come to be in this place?"

David struggled to his feet. His energy was almost depleated, and he quite needed to feed. Tierell sure knew how to punish people, but having worked for the underlands council, and being Nexus's very own paladin, and the first vampire to convert from standard old age magicks to pure Chaos magick, and binding it to himself, David was lucky to be alive, and he knew it.
Picking his sword up and re sheathing it, he walked out of the building, not having enough energy to use his limited chaos magicks, the fight with the bikers had taken a lot of it out of him through over use, but more then that , Tierell had made sure to only leave him with enough to be able to walk, if any oen attacked him now, he didnt know whether he would be able to defend himself.

Tierell meanwhile had taken it upon himself to "trouble" the syndicate. Knowing his rank and name didnt hold him in any status in these areas, he had no intention of staying, but proper honour and conduct must be followed in his eyes, and should he have to deploy the honour guard to take David out, in his eyes, he required their permission to operate so as not to get in the way of their plans.
Entering the building unarmed but with his staff in his right hand, and a long hooded cloak covering him and throwing his face in to darkness, he walked up to the elevator, using his mind, he pushed the penthouse button. The elaborate golden doors closing and the lift began to take the trip up the 28 floors to the penthouse. After a few moments, the doors opened with a ting, There stood out side the office was a man, talking to a woman whom was sat on the floor. Walking slowly, he approached the pair and waited for a break in their conversation.

"Excuse my intrusion please, but i require to speak to your master when he is free!" he said bowing gently. The woman eyed him for a few moments....

"Tierell?" she said as if suprised by his appearance

"But of course Xui, t'as been too long!" Tierell replied..

"Vodka, Neat, please."

Arcoult produced a bottle from his desk and poured a perfect double shot in to a tumbler, then poured himself and Jacob some whiskey. As he passed her the glass, Morgan took a hurried step backwards, his forarm was covered in tiny green scales.

"Ah, yes. An unfortunate side effect of youthful folly." He tugged his cuff, covering his arm again. "I put some pretty heavy glamours on that. You saw through them within five minutes... Interesting. Perhaps Jacob wasn't exaggerating."

Jacob swirled the whiskey in his glass, savouring the smell. Behind him, the door clicked open, and swung shut again. He didn't need the arrogant tap tap tap of the ebony cane to tell him who it was. Only one man walked through Arcoult's door without knocking.

"Eisener."

"Ah, Mr. Pierson."

Both men held the same rank within the organisation. Eisener was his superior only due to his age. They resented each other passionately.

The white haired old man took a step towards Morgan, the black velvet he coated himself in rustling faintly. "And thisss... must be be the latent..."

"What's the matter old man? Pissed that I found her first?"

"Listen child," He lent closer to Morgan, "the things he has shown you must be very impressive, but some of us still stick to the old ways. Magic should be refined, subtle, real power comes from within."

"Are you finished?" Jacob always tried his best to rile the old man up. Eisener was just another obstacle along the road to power. "Your methods work fine as long as your happy to wait for old age and senility to take you before you can do anything useful."

Eisener paused for a second. He was clearly deciding whether to rise to Jacob's jab. "Mr. Arcoult. Here are the reports from our surveillance teams. I'm afraid there's not much news." He placed a stack of papers on Arcoult's desk.

"Thank you Eisener. You may go back to your business."

Eisener turned around to face Jacob once more. "Was that the lovely miss Xui I noticed outside? I thought so. Be careful around her Pierson. She's not to be trusted."

"You're a suspicious old bastard."

"And you're an arrogant young fool with the manners and dignity of a Schzarian sludge fiend. Good day. I'm going to have a little chat with Miss Xui." Eisener swept out of the office.

"Must you two always fight like that?" Arcoult sighed. "It hurts me to see it... now, to business."

"Come on then. We'd better not keep Mr. Arcoult waiting..." Jacob said, leading the way up the increasingly ornate corridor to the head honcho's office.

Morgan followed, still slightly unsteady on her feet, as did Xui, who seemed distraught. Jacob was fighting the urge to put his arms out to both of them; instead he quickened his pace determindly.

They reached the huge oak door of the office, which seemed to be about a foot thick, a deep, rustic brown in colour, with many runes and symbols carved around the edges. Looking at them made the hair on the back of Morgan's neck tingle, and an uneasy swelling feeling in her stomach that was part happy recognition, part fear, and pure excitement. Instinctively she moved closer to trace her fingers over the spiky shapes, but Jacob reached out and caught her before her slender hand touched the wood. The same bolt of electricity went through her at his touch as had done the last time...she withdrew, throwing him an indignant look. He shook his head. "Not yet..."

Morgan shrugged, confused, and asked "So where is he then, I thought we had an appointment?"

"We do. He probably has someone in there already though, we'll have to wait."

Seconds bled into minutes and still no summon from the office. Morgan was leaning against the wall, her curtain of blonde hair covering her face, and Xui was sat on the floor idly tapping her knife against the wooden border above the lush carpet. Jacob finally let out a sigh and rapped on the door. It opened immediately to reveal a hulking, thuggish-looking guy who was clearly a heavy of some sort. Not the mysterious Mr Arcoult.

"Excuse me, we had an appointment to see Mr Arcoult? I don't suppose we got the time wrong?" Jacob asked pleasantly.

"No, he just has some other business to attend to, wait your turn" and with that the heavy abruptly shut the door on them.

It wasn't long after that though that the door swung open again, and a rat-looking man with pinched features came hurrying out, looking shaken. Casting a furtive look at the two ladies he vanished around the corner out of sight. The heavy reappeared in the doorway, "Mr Arcoult will see you now."

At long last! Morgan pushed herself off the wall and strolled into the room, looking around her. Jacob followed quickly behind and Xui waited outside.

It was warmer in this room than the draughty corridor outside, thanks to the large fire crackling in the grate. There were rows upon rows of books lining the walls in shelves - old-looking books, leather-bound volumes, written in English and a number of other languages that she could barely make out. There were newer looking books as well, paperback but they still carried the same aura of authority that the old ones did. Morgan had never really been one for reading, but she felt as if she could get lost in here for hours just soaking up the knowledge from these books. She was so lost in these thoughts that she forgot the reason she was even in this room in the first place; a small cough brought her back to the present, and Jacob was pushing her towards the desk at the far end of the room. Seated in a grand wooden chair (it looked like ebony this time), was who could only have been Mr Arcoult.

He was smaller than she had expected, which was nonetheless unsurprising given the grandeur of the room - a thin whisp of a man, with short, greying hair, and an expensive suit. He had incredibly piercing eyes, dark green in colour, which glittered from the firelight. When he spoke his voice was deep and rich; the kind of voice that advertising people go crazy for to have promoting their perfume or their cars or their movies.

"Good afternoon Jacob, it's been a while since we last met in person. And this charming young lady must be Morgan?"

"Mr Arcoult" nodded Jacob, extending his hand to shake the other's. Morgan smiled at him, still taking in his appearance and mannerisms. He looked straight at her with that piercing gaze, as if he was seeing through her flesh, through her bone, even through her mind, right to her very soul.

"My dear, it will be pointless trying to get the measure of me in so short a space of time. Particularly one such as myself; I am more...complex, shall we say, than others."

Embarrassed, Morgan looked at her feet. She got the feeling that he knew an awful lot more about her than she ever would about him.

"Now Jacob, Morgan - to business. Would you care for a drink?"

Shaking his head, David turned.."i was merely curious about the demon kin..i felt her, just like i was drawn to Xui's club by my senses, yet on both encounters thou hast all thought me to have violent intentions..i guess there is no honour in this world any more, but worry not "lord", i shall leave you and your protogé to your buisness, Dark eve!" ,and with that David vanished once more.

Appearing on a roof , over looking Xui's clubs, he could see the bikers vehicles out side, and whats more he could hear them destroying the place inside. People were running out screaming, the bouncers laid all but dead out side. Smirking to himself, David was in for a bit of fun, and had been looking for an excuse for a decent work out since he got in to the town. Closing his eyes for a few moments, he made himself appear, sitting on whats left of the bar, a few mortals laid facing up on the bar, groaning in agony. His orders to stay away from trouble and to not interfear in other peoples buisness couldnt have been further from his mind at this moment. One of the bikers saw him sat there, seeming some what amzed that he had a) appeared from no where, and b) wasnt running!
Hopping down off the bar, David looked around the floor once more and then gave a devious smirk. The next thing he knew, the biker had drawn a gun on him and pulled the trigger twice, both bullets found themselves buried in Davids shoulders, knocking him to the floor...Growling loudly, Davids eyes flashed red, then black then returned to their normal colour as the wounds healed and the bullets fell from his body and on to the floor...
"Now that wasnt very nice!" David growled once more, drawing his sword from its sheath.

Panicking the biker shot at david another 2 times, missing this time, one ending up in the bar, the other hit the kronenburg tap, making the fluid spew on to the bar top and in the air. With a single swipe of his blade, the biker fell to the floor, horizontally cut in half, his blood mixing with the beer on the floor, the look of panick still across his face. Moments later, more shots ran out from other bikers guns. David shook his head...their aim was poor and undiciplined, but then again, they had made a mess of the club. Nothing around them had been spared their wrath, every thing was well and truely destroyed.
David smirked, adn then began his way towards the bikers, using his vampiric speed and the skills he had been taught at the coven. Spinning and flipping, the bikers stood no chance as one by one, David sliced them up. The last one standing backed away from him, his words staggered. Stuttering his face portrayed fear incarnet, "we...we....we were......only....following...orders!"

"i dont care about your orders, i dont care about you...No one here has shown any honour, and decency...i am not here to avenge Lady Xui, im not here for any of them!"

"What...what the hell are you?!" the biker asked still backing away

"Im a choas vampire....a stealth assassin of sorts, one of the privlidged few taught magicks of this strength by my brothers and sisters and now you have to die!"

The biker jumped for a shotgun which one of the others had dropped, with out managing to have fired a shot at David, even though he had tried aiming, but by the time the biker had scrammbled to where the gun was, David had moved it with his magicks, throwing it half way across the club, causing it to go off, blowing one of the lights to pieces.

Taking out 2 of his throwing knives, he thrw them at the biker, pinning each of his hands to the floor, the biker screamed out in pain. Now standing over the biker, David ran his sword up the bikers body, then with a flick of his wrist, he cut the bikers hands clean off but just as he was about to finish the biker off, David was thrown in to a wall.

"David...David...David!, you were warned to stay out of other peoples affairs, and now i have had to come to this hell hole and deal with you!"

Looking around, David saw Tierell stood there, a look of total anger hung on his old masters face.

"I make no excuses for my actions!" David said getting up to his feet. Tierell just drew his blade and threw his cloak to the side.

"Master Tierell, i will not fight you!"

"Then your as dead as the bikers!" Tierell growled "you have disobeyed me and the coven for the last time!"

Tierell took stance, but David left his sword on the floor, not even begining to think about picking it up. Tierell appeared next to David, and kicked him back to the floor, sending him flying across the dance floor. Within moments, Tierell had followed his attack with another series of kicks and throws, David eventually falling behind the bar in a heap. With all his strength he grabbed hold of the bar and pulled himself up to his feet, his master and teacher though was waiting and grabbed him and pulled him back over the bar, throwing him back on to the dance floor, where David laid, groaning.

"your a pathetic excuse for a student of mine, i should have let Alexis leave you as a mortal, your sire is most displeased with reports of what has been going on...and Amora doesnt even want to look upon you any more...your a disgrace!" Tierell said, resting the tip of Davids own sword on Davids throat.

"If i come back here, or the coven guards make themselves known to you any more, they are instructed to take your head off and i will do the same!" and with that, Tierell stabbed the sword in to the dance floor next to David and vanished

"You must help me, Mr. Pierson, if you please, Miss Xiu. I say this is a sudden change of tune." Jacob absentmindedly finger the gun under his coat. Listening to the barely audible footsteps of the presence that had been following he and Morgan since they had left the summoning hall. "Excuse me for one second Miss Xiu."

Jacob turned sharply, to face in to the lobby of the huge skyscraper that served as head quarters of the syndicate. Pushing a startled Morgan out of the way, he pulled a silver cross, five inches long and undecorated, from one of his pockets. The vampire shrank from the artifact, baring his teeth.

Jacob was getting fed up with these interruptions. He wanted to spend more time with his new protege. They had an appointment to keep.

"Behold, Vampyr..." Jacob felt now was a good a time as any to give Morgan a lesson, as he had one of the bastards cowering in front of him. "One of the grossest perversions to blight the Earth. They are without the ingenuity, the will to progress that makes Humankind so great, and lacking the power of a true Demon. They are live in neither world, skirting in the shadows, taking what prey they might. The only reason they are to be feared is that they almost always find a way to weasel out of being dead. Make no mistake, child. They are not romantic. Regard them as pitiful, if you must regard them at all."

"Insolence." The creature, that Jacob now remembered had named himself David. "I should drain the blood from you where you stand."

Jacob gave a long sigh. "I'd like to see you try. You'll find your magics are useless here. The dimensions and materials of this entire building were carefully selected. Without invitation you are powerless."

There was a long pause. Jacob couldn't see an end to this stand off any time soon.

With yet another sigh, Jacob lowered the crucifix. "Look mate, I'm very busy, I can't be bothered with empty posturing any more. If you want to speak to Mr. Arcoult, follow me, but you'll have to wait your turn. If all you want to do is get in the way, please leave.

Jacob brushed pass the Vampire, taking Morgan and Miss Xiu with him towards the elevator.

David had spent a few hours meditating when he felt a demon being called forth. His curiosity had peaked...why would any one call a demon from the underworlds...
Getting up, he re arraged his blades and made his way towards the source of the energy.
Arriving in time to see the girl possessed he smirked..."the mortal wanted power!" Jumping down, he remained in his shadows, watching her regain her senses...or rather become accustomed to her new ones.

"Yes, of course I can fucking walk."

Morgan staggered slightly away from Jacob, pushing her sweat-soaked hair out of her eyes. Her stomach was roiling and for the first time ever she was glad to have not had a great deal of food. Her throat burned as if she'd swallowed a red-hot poker, and there was also the taste of something vaguely like oil making its way down into her stomach...out of all the things she had experienced in her short life, this was by far the most unpleasant.

And yet...the power she could feel, even now, like a steam rising from her body...it was exhilerating. It felt dirty and it was wrong, but oh it was exciting. Her eyes glazed over as she could feel the demon's presence inside her, its intrigue as it staked out its new territory.

She dragged herself back to reality, or at least as much as was possible, and saw Jacob eyeing her with interest and concern and....something else? She wasn't in a condition to fathom it just yet. She just turned fully to him and said,

"So where do we go now? Who's this big cheese I have to meet?"

"Like I said, Mr Arcoult. He should be able to explain things to you."

Morgan held her head up high and nodded, ignoring how pale she had become and the tremble of her hands as she clasped them together. She walked ahead of Jacob, to the wide stone stairs leading up to the office above ground.

Before she could stop him, Jacob snatched Morgan's hand and dragged the silver blade across her palm. She was too surprised to make a noise. Still gripping her tightly, he lifted the blade to eye level. Showing her the blood running down it's gleaming edge.

Keeping a hold of her wrist he turned and threw the dagger in to the centre of the circle, where it stuck in the ground.

A deep silence filled the chamber then, and for a second it seemed nothing would happen. But out of the wound in the ground, around that wicked blade a cloud billowed, lurid yellow, rank, stale. It streamed towards the two figures, to the girl who's blood had been shed, entering her nose and mouth and eyes.

Now she screamed. She struggled, tried to escape. But Jacob was having none of it. He threw his arms around her, clamping them to her sides, forcing her to turn and face the circle. He knew what she was seeing, the visions that came. The sights of hell were hers to behold, the untold darkness, the fear, and always the insurmountable hatred. The vitriolic loathing for all life...

And so it went on for what seemed an age, Morgan shrieking and writhing in his grasp on the brightest edge of that great dark circle, the mists swirling between her and the bloodied blade. Untill eventually they dissipated... and quiet was restored, save for the rasping of a new set of lungs.

A dark figure was just visible, hunched in the centre of the circle. It spoke in a garbled tongue, disjointed syllables and glottal stops. But any human in the vicinity could understand it's meaning.

"why hast thou brought me here? why am I bound?"

Jacob let the girl go and strode in to the circle. Anxious to press his authority over the situation. He began conversation with the fiend, in it's own language. Quite a strain on the vocal chords.

"thou art at our mercy, lord. we shall not release thee lest thee concede to aid us"

There was much bartering to do before Jacob was happy that the creature would keep it's word. When it was over, he reached down to the floor at it's feet, and yanked the dagger out of the ground. The Demon let out a low shriek, it's arms flew backwards and it vanished.

Jacob hurriedly crossed over to Morgan, who had collapsed against the wall.

"Wuh... what was that?"

"That... was a Chobrath. A Demon of darkness and shadows. Useful for keeping things hidden. It agreed to aid you when you call it's true name, and not to take retribution against either of us once it's pledge is fulfilled."

She put her hand to her stomach and moaned.

"Yeah, it always burns the first time... at least you've proven to have the constitution for it. I threw up about three times the first time Mr. Arcoult showed me the way. Speaking of which, we have an appointment. Can you walk?"

Morgan swallowed hard.
"Yes. I want to see.....to be. I want you to show me this. Please?" Jacob nodded.
"Very well. As long as it's your decision, you will deal with the consequences".
He took off his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves.

walking along the main street of the city, David found some one whom he quickly fed off, destroying the body as he had been taught years before. Climbing the ladder attatched to the side of a building, he quickly made it to the roof where he knelt, the full moon hanging in the air, a soft mist rolling across the streets below. a perfect night for meditation

"...and five years ago, I was sent to Rome. I managed to wrangle a way in to the vatican's restricted libraries..." Jacob saw the question in her eye's and made to intercept it. "Don't ask how, it's a long story and the less dirt people have on me the better... within those walls I found books that the church would rather had stayed secret... heretical texts that had not been opened in centuries... books on summonings, bindings. Pure blood humans such as we have not the ability to bend reality themselves. We lack the mental strength required for shaping mystic forces... It is possible to develop such skills, but it is far simpler to make bargains, deals with creatures who's power far outstrips ours. I have made pacts with scores of demons. As a result I am one of the most powerful pure blood humans on the surface world."

The high vaulted ceilings of the syndicate's summoning halls stretched out above him. The floor was covered in arcane symbols, forming a great circle. Darkness prevailed in this great cyst. An ancient structure, atop of which the syndicate had built their headquarters.

The Gun Jacob had been given in the club last night lay hard and heavy against his chest. In such times, he decided, he needed the instant protection of a high caliber pistol. In his hand was a long ceremonial dagger, he held it's cold silver handle tightly. He felt if he didn't it might leap from his hand of it's own accord, so sharp was the blade.

"I can show you the ceremonies. I can show you how you can seize power... how to make yourself stronger than you could imagine. Then you are on your way, and I will take you to see Mr. Arcoult. But once you have bound a demon to yourself, there is no turning back. Do you still want to go through with this?"

Waking early the next night, the sun having only just set, he re attatched all his blades. Holding his dagger in his hand, he spun it in his hand before slipping it in to its sheath. Leaving the house, he walked down the street, fairly certain that the others were watching him, all but hoping he would draw his blades and leave another dead corpse for some one else to tidy up, so that they could erradicate the problem of him drawing attention to the covens existance.
Having been one of the few Tierell had taught Chaos magick too, David was even more of a threat,regardless of the fact that every time he used it it left him weakened slightly but onl if he hadnt fed or trained in some time.
heading over to the park, David slunk in to the shadows, and began to prowl, back flipping and foward flipping where appropriate.
There was no one around this time of night in the park, David had concluded all the trouble with the bikers and any thing else that was around at that time would have scared people away from the park. Finishing a series of back flips, he spun 180 and using his telekinesis drew his throwing daggers from their sheaths, sending them all flying at the trunk of a tree, all of them landing exactly how they should, collected all within inch's of each other, blades dug in to the tree.
Collecting the blades once more, he resheathed them and then left the park, he needed to feed...

alex leaves on urgent business.
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David looked around him, Human life seemed all to intresting at the moment. It was some thing he hadnt held in a fair while, longer then he cared to admit, although compared to some of the others he had met, he was but a child.
Getting up from where he was, David stiffled a yawn....a symbol that perhaps he had used to much of his abilities in one day, using his chaos magick often left him drained, and besides that he had fed very little, and having been on the move for a fair while, he hadnt been meditating and training with it as much as he had when he was with the coven.

sliding down the emergency escape ladder which were attatched to the side of the building he was on, he walked up town, towards the housing district, eventually he found a small house on the out skirts of the city which looked to have been up for sale for some time, "i'll have to make this more permenant tomorrow!" he thought with a slight snicker.Entering the house, he went up to the bed room and closed all the curtains and cast a spell on them, making sure no light would enter, taking his blade from his back and unclipping all his other blades from his varying sheaths, he laid them next to him and laid down himself, quickly drifting off in to a replenishing sleep

Jacob was entirely unprepared for what happened when he took the girl's hand. The silver band given to him by a Chakkath demon started to heat up, it sent pulses of energy up his arm... he finally knew what it was for.

She had no idea... none at all. The things she could do... the havoc she could wreak, all she had to do was click her fingers and the walls of reality would buckle and break, she could let lose a storm that had not been seen on the earth for millenia...

She was an asset now.

With someone to show her the way, she could be truly great.

Should he tell her? No. She wouldn't understand.

She had to find out for herself.

Jacob lit a cigarette.

"Alright missy. Come this way, there are things you should see."

The dark man was gone almost as soon as Morgan had been aware of him, yet she couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling she got from his lingering presence. Instead she turned her attention away from the spot he had stood at, which had now been vacated by that Xui chick, and she scouted around for Alex on the dancefloor.

No luck there; he had vanished as well. Most peculiar. The only person she vaguely recognised now was the stocky gangster guy, who seemed to be walking towards the exit. Always one for snap decisions, Morgan's mind was made up in a second - adventure was what she wanted, excitement the thing she craved - and if she followed this man she felt sure to find it, she could practically taste the danger coming off him. He knew things she could only begin to dream of, she was sure of that.

Her long, Amazonian legs took her out of the club and into the velvet night within a heartbeat, and she paused to collect her bearings and see where the man was headed. For now, she figured it was best to follow at a safe distance. The chill winter air whipped at her face and hair, and as she looked up in the dark, the moon was glowing with a faint ring of silver around it. It was mesmerising, and Morgan stood rooted to the spot while rapidly browning leaves collected at her feet. Shaking her head, she hurried off again to keep up with her quarry. It was easy really, keeping hidden from him; the street was filled with all sorts of junk outside people's houses, and there were many cars, abandoned, burnt out or otherwise...it wasn't a particularly nice part of town. But it was something, and isn't that what matters?

Lost in these thoughts Morgan wasn't paying too much attention to her surroundings, and she accidentally tripped over a dustbin. It fell over sideways and the lid rolled off onto the pavement and into the road with an ear-splitting crash that could be heard three streets away. Cursing herself silently and panicking, Morgan ran and grabbed the lid to stop it rolling, and shoved it roughly back onto the bin before crouching down behind the nearest car. Peeking over the top of the bonnet she could see the big man had gone from sight, and again she cursed herself for being so clumsy.

A minute passed, two...eventually she thought it was safe to move out and she was just in the process of straightening up to hurry along again, when she felt strong hands seize her from behind; one took her neck and the other twisted her arm round, until she was pinned to the floor, writhing and spitting with rage at being held down in such an undignified manner. As her assailant leaned down closer to apply more pressure on her back with his knee, she caught a whiff of expensive aftershave, and she heard a British accent say hoarsely,

"You thought it would be that easy, following me? You didn't think you were actually being any good at it, did you? I knew you were there from the second I left the club."

She struggled some more, only to be rewarded with a powerful slap to the back of the head and her arms twisted tighter behind her until she squealed in pain.

"You can make this harder on yourself love, or you can co-operate and we can talk like civilised grownups. What's it to be?"

Defeated, Morgan went limp. He turned her over, still keeping her wrists tightly together in one of his huge hands, and looked carefully into her face. Morgan realised he was older than she had first thought; approaching middle-age, but his face still carried the fading remnants of amazing good looks, and he had a powerful build. Part of her, the part that remained a child and the part she wished to escape the most, still felt that sick enjoyment at being roughly mistreated by men, and so it was without fear that she looked back at him. In turn his anger deflated as he saw how calm she appeared, how much....younger she was than he had expected her to be. He was still just as confused though; why had she followed him?

"Why did you follow me, girl?"

She smiled. It was the most amazing, pearly-white, Cheshire Cat smile he had ever seen, that said a million things and promised even more. He felt rather than saw her shrug, as she replied "I just wanted to see where you were going, just for something to do, you know..."

He looked sceptically at her, that was surely the lamest excuse ever come up with. She elaborated.

"I can't explain why I followed you. I have nothing to do, I didn't want to stay in that club all night, I have no people to see, and no place to call home...you've got 'adventure' written all over your face, buddy. And I want in. Let me tag along?"

Jacob said nothing. His mind was whirling over the options... in truth, even he didn't know precisely where he was going, what he would be leading her into. She could be a burden, become dangerous...it surely wasn't a good idea. But she seemed so strong, she might even be able to help...he wrestled with his conscience, and in the end he decided that he would let her have her way, and if she became troublesome then he would ditch her straight away. Releasing her, he offered his hand to help her up but she stood by herself, brushing her lush satin trousers down.

They surveyed each other, she being the first to speak. "So, if we're venturing out into the great unknown together, we should at least know each other's names?"

He gave a nod. "You're right. My name is Jacob Pierson." Holding out his hand, she shook it firmly.

"Morgan Tremoni. Shall we be going now?"

Growling at her rudeness, David was in no mood for playing games now. he had come here in search of other kin...perhaps even friends, but it had been thrown right back in his face. As the being tried to strong arm him, he vanished, appearing back in his clothes holding his katana which Tierell had made him, still in its sheath behind the bouncer. Drawing the blade, he took the bouncers head clean off, and resheathed the weapon. Attatching the blade in its scabbard to his back. He bowed to the being whom had been nothing but polite, and walked in to the club further.
Another bouncer got in his way, obviously having not seen what happened to the last one, David simply made his eyes flash a bright red for a second and pushed him aside.

It took some nerve for a being to be so rude to a member of the Crimson Coven....or rather an ex member, having left a fair few years ago in search of people whom could teach him about this world. David was nothing like his sire, or rather was nothing like the being presumed to be his sire, but he knew when it was time to be a little more rough. He walked through the dance floor, filled with people dressed in blacks, their eyes falsly coloured by make up, or contacts. A young girl, no more then 18 began to try and dance with him, her petite body moved in time with the music which was only describable as dark, after a second a thin smirk began to linger on Davids lips, his fangs grew longer. Taking a hold of her, he bit in to her, draining her only a little, just enough to arouse a sense of confussion within her, then with his choas magick, he rose her in to the air, a spectacle the ones around them seemed to believe was part of the show...

Shaking his head, some thing occured to him...he had acted with out honour..some thing he had been tought from the moment he was made..setting her down he took one of his daggers from around his ankle and walked up to the bar.."Give this to the owner" he growled, and stabbed it in to the bar as hard as he could, making sure only kin could remove it, before he vanished from the club altogether.

Reappearing on the roof tops a few blocks from the club, he became aware of 4 shadows around him, sighing gently to himself, he watched as they tok corporial form. They all belonged to the coven,
Shaking his head, he growled "i havent time for you!"

One of them stepped foward."David..you are aware of our rules...Now that Nexus is gone...we are keeping our selves free from other peoples buisness, a rule you seem all to willing to flaunt"

"Your rules...not mine...i left the coven..remember!"

"You carry our blades, engraved with our symbols...you are drawing too much attention to us..if you continue to do so, you will be destroyed!" and with that they all faded in to the shadows.

Sitting on the ledge of the building, Davids mind ran...he not only had the kin here to deal with, he now had to protect himself against his own brothers and sisters...whether he liked it or not..he was alone.

Morgan and Alex were still wrapped around each other on the dancefloor, and they had quite a space around them as people stepped back to simply stare; most likely from jealousy, but it was hard to fathom their expressions in the almost-dark.

The two young people were having trouble seeing anything but each other at this point - the more they danced, and the more Alex seemed to relax, the more they got lost in each other's eyes. However something was happening over at the bar that distracted them. A big, mafiosi-looking guy was apparently conversing loudly with the scruffy Scottish barman, who was gesticulating wildly and wielding what appeared to be a large axe. Alex and Morgan watched this interaction with fascination; their conversation was inaudible but their gaze suddenly moved to the door of the club, where a beautiful Japanese woman dressed head to toe in biker leathers was kicking the shit out of a punter at the door.

Things just seemed to be getting weirder, and Morgan wanted to go for a closer look. Alex sensed her about to move off, and gripped with worry he clasped her arm and hissed "Are you crazy, don't go over there and get involved! God only knows what kind of shit's going on."

Morgan paused for a second, before pressing her lips against his briefly. She shook her hair back with a smile, and yelled over the music "Don't worry, I know how to look after myself. I'll be right back."

And with that she was gone, reappearing on the other side of the dancefloor before Alex even had a chance to blink. Morgan stepped towards the woman in leathers, who was now accompanied by a tall, dark man with sallow, pale skin and sharp eyes, that she had not seen from her position over the other side with Alex. Something about him made Morgan incredibly uneasy, and yet part of her felt like she had known him from...before. He seemed familiar, in a very strange and unnerving way. She couldn't look at him.

Instead she and the leather woman sized each other up in that catty way only females can achieve; Morgan the taller by nearly a whole foot, with a more prominent chest; but the other had a quick readyness and underlying power about her that said she was not to be underestimated. They introduced themselves and shook hands cordially, and Morgan inquired as to the ownership of the place.

"Yes, I am the owner of this club, why do you ask?" she replied brusquely.

Morgan shrugged, her charming smile in place as always. "No reason, just curious. It's quite a swingin' little joint you got going here, bit on the rough side though. You ever need help with security, I have a fair bit of...experience in that area."

Xui raised a finely shaped eyebrow. "I see. Well, thankyou er...Miss Tremoni, if I ever need your help, I'll be sure to get in touch. I think I'm handling it ok by myself for now though."

The thin man stepped forward again, his eyes flickering between the two ladies. He looked at Morgan, and she stared him defiantly back - then it was as if she could hear his voice inside her head.

"I know you. I know who you are. You could be strong, if you join me."

She stepped back immediately in surprise, her heart thudding uncomfortably in her chest. What the Hell was all this about??

David had watched the whole afray from the safty of his corner. Getting up, he walked over to the biker lady..."Dark eve" he said through his mind, knowing she would not hear his voice. "my name is David"

"Nae, nae gun back 'ere I'm afred, AI got ma darn pretti axe though." He picked up his axe and placed it gently on the bar, Showing off his leather and metal punching gloves at the same time. "'Ny help to ya?". He teethely smiled at Jacob. "uh- oh, Wha' did you say to da ladie? She looks aweful mad commin' ova 'ere."

"Like I said, miss Xiu.." there was a trace of weariness in his voice as he re buttoned his neatly pressed shirt. "We really don't know who they are. But they've been hiring our old mercs... we don't know how many, but we do know what they can do. They've been making a mess of our operations on the eastern coast. Mr. Arcoult's had old Eisener hopping all over the place trying to find something out."

"Eisener? I thought he was dead."

"Here's hoping..." Jacob let out a wry smile.

"It's got to be important for them to get the old man involved... They're dangerous then?"

"Terribly." Jacob stood, his shirt buttoning finished. "Now if you are quite done threatening me, I will take my leave." Inside Jacob was fuming. He normally wouldn't stand for this kind of impolite behaviour... the things he'd do to this bitch... if he could. But it seemed she was rather important to his bosses. The Directors wanted her protected. He maintained his composure.

"If there is any matter in which the syndicate can aid you, do let me know." He handed her a small slip of yellow card. "Spill some blood, read the words."

"I don't think there'll be call for that." She said shortly. "Goodbye Mr Pierson. Please leave my property."

He paused at the door to the office, "They left some tracks... some paint flecks too. Keep your eyes open for black motorcycles."

He left the office and hurried down the steps to the dance floor. As he got the the club's entrance hall he froze in his tracks. From outside there was a humming, which grew to a buzz, to a roar, and a trembling that came up through the ground. A fleet of motorcycles moving very fast.

Jacob turned back in to the club, and approached the big man behind the Bar.

"Aye laddy?"

Jacob rapped his fingers on the bar a couple of times.

"Uh..." He put his hand to his brow, "you don't, er..." he scratched his head before putting his had on his chin, "happen to have a gun back there do you?"

hearing her reply, he took a seat in the corner,away from every one else and watched their bodies twist and turn, hitting every beat which the guy in the booth seemed to all but chuck at them. He could see the dancers eyes, their faces, and some thing didnt seem quite right about them. He scanned their minds, learning as he went from person to person, they were intoxicated on some thing called drugs, he didnt pry to much in to them, he wasnt at all intrested in details. He had never seen mortals at peace with one another, or at any where near what they were describing to one another as pure euphoria. Smirking to himself, he mummbled, "what fools, their bodies are impure, their happyness false, but in their favour, it saves them from my fangs!"
Wishing he had brought his weapons in for a bit of fun, he resorted to moving things on tables with his mind, which to his pleasure seemed only to cause the victims of such pranks distress or confussion. Chuckling lightly to himself, he took a sip of his "beer" and awaited the meeting.

he could sense all the mystical energies in the room, some of them pulsating more then others. Mortals all had the ability to use magicks, to bend the prana to their will, if they werent so stupid as to have closed themselves off to it.
Shaking his head he moved off the dance floor, he was growing impatient, but then Tierell had always said that was his worst trait. Walking to the bar, he ordered a glass of what ever it was that came out of the green topped tap, Throwing a note on to the counter and taking his drink he walked up the stairs to beats like he had never heard before. They were hard and fast, a constant droning the music progressing second by second, building and then dropping straight back in to those droning beats. What ever it was, he liked it..but thats not why he was here...he was here because he sensed kin..kin not too unlike himself, but then all kin had one thing in commen, they arent mortal.
It was time he made himself known to them, but with out being so blatently obvious that the mortals around would notice.
Closing his eyes briefly, he called out to them in his mind.."i know your here...i bring you not war..but i wish to meet with you, all whom can hear my voice!" he let his energies hang around him, pulling them in a circle around him.

He simply couldn't beleive it. He was dancing. Dancing.
He struggled to remember what to actually do, awkwardly trying to move with the music, with his mysterious partner.

He was aware of the glares of the single men around, eyes boring into him and her, refusing to beleive such a loser is dancing with her of all people, but Alex couldn't care less. If they wanted to interfere, he'd happily show them the door. Even if they had to be thrown through it.

She was a very good dancer, that was clear. She moved naturally, in perfect time with the music, each beat flowing through her like an electric current. He realised she wasn't just a dancer, but probably some kind of fighter, and a strong one at that.

He did his best to keep up, wary of where exactly this was headed, and what she was after. He was not going to throw away everything he'd been through because someone flirts with him. But, until he got more of an idea of how to pursue his objectives, he may as well tag along.

darkness. the inner sanctum. deep inside the mind.

reaching. a great stretch. backwards, years, to rome. to a pact. to the words he had been given.

"you ssseek usss?"

"Aye"

"who do you ssupposse yourssself to be, mortal?"

"i hold you in debt, a pact"

"the blood?"

"aye"

"we... remember..."

"defend me"

Jacob snapped back in to his body. The pistol still pointed at his heart. He didn't fear it. The bloody pacts he made in Rome had saved him from worse before now.

"Miss Xiu, we have little interest in your club. We want to know what else you have going on. This new face is more powerful than you might know, it's even got Mister Arcoult worried." He stared in to her eyes, unblinking. Perfectly calm and collected, his hair still in place, his creases sharp and neat. "It's in our best interests to stick together. We don't mean to pressure anything from you. We simply want an arrangement that is beneficial for both parties."

She clearly wasn't opening up to his proposal. Her beautiful face showed not a flicker of emotion.

"If you really think it's necessary..." He unbuttoned the top of his shirt, revealing the dark, arcane symbols tattooed there, now glowing with summoned energies. "By all means, take your best shot."

...What can I do for you...

How she loved hearing that. It left so many paths open, to be as crude or as coy as she liked. She guessed that this one was best taken slow though.

"Well you can start by buying me a drink". Taking it slow didn't mean that Morgan would have to stop being as straightforward as she always was, and she chuckled at the taken aback look on Alex's face.

"Sure...what can I get you?"

Her face split into a Cheshire Cat-like grin as she responded "Just a straight Vodka, if you please Signor."

Alex nodded bravely and wandered off to the bar for her. She stared after him, head cocked to one side, wondering if he was putting on an act, or if he really was shy, or simply just an asshole. It would be interesting to find out. Shortly he returned and she thanked him warmly for the drink, took a huge, unladylike swig of it then took his arm in that gentle but firm way of hers and pulled him out to the dancefloor.

He resisted strongly, muttering so she could barely hear over the noise of the music, "No..what are you doing?? I don't dance!" She stopped abruptly and turned to face him, her black eyes penetrating further than he would care for them to. No, it would be fine, he had spent years hiding his real self, some blonde bimbo wasn't going to come along and turn him into an open book.

Still, he let her take his hand this time, and began to move slowly, awkwardly on the dance floor, enjoying her curves and the way she twisted beneath him.