Beware who you meet at a tavern

The next evening found a rattled group waking up. It had been a year since their embrace, and never once in that whole time had they woke without Ana sitting outside of their sleeping quarters with a bright smile on her face. Even to Sylas and Dimitri, who had never known the girl before that one fateful night, something was just missing. It was too quiet, calm, and between Wilhelm and Luca, pretty tense. Or maybe it was just that Luca was tense, and Wilhelm was the unfortunate soul who fell into being the object of her ire.

After a few minutes of milling around and then getting something to drink from the forest, the group continued into the village. For a such small town, the village was quiet active even after dark. Some discussion was had, and Dimitri, Sylas, and Samuel decided to head over to visit with a contact that Samuel knew of in the village. Glaring at each other, hating every moment of it, Luca and Wilhelm agreed that it was high time to perhaps hire someone to assist them and watch over the caravan during the daylight hours.

They decided that their first stop would be at the heart of the village's social interaction--the pub.

Luca and Wilhelm sat themselves at an empty table in the corner of the pub, quietly observing all that was going on around them. The constant drone of conversation all around them was quite reminiscent of the pub that had once been in their home town.

Noting that all of the people seemed to be conversing in a Germanic tongue, they began their conversation in English. That is, if what they were having could be considered 'conversation.' If it were not for the guilt he felt already, Wilhelm would have become angry with Luca's indirect verbal attacks and insults. Of course what he had tried to do the previous night wasn't the best of decisions, but she didn't have the objective view on the matter. He was doing what he could for the best interests of their overall effort. Yes, the immediate mission was to protect Ana, but in the grand scheme of things, what was one sacrifice if it meant disabling whatever plans the Camarilla had in mind for the girl??

As for Luca, her mind was still racing from the previous night. Her heart wrenched at not only the idea of what had happened with Ana, but also of the act that she'd committed. She couldn't help but notice that in spite of everything, even as talkative as the group normally was, they made no mention of her method of disposing of the assassin. Even though he was an enemy, she questioned herself many times over in her own mind. Who was she to take his life? Who was she to eat him? Not just the blood in his veins, but she could feel his very soul consumed within her own. Sometimes she thought she heard whispers from his thoughts in her own. But, much to her surprise, there was never an express feeling of hate. At least, not towards her. The woman from London, she surmised, was no friend of his. Her concentration on the matter was broken, however, by someone standing in front of her, speaking.

The young man looked aggravated as he cleared his throat and repeated his question. The red-headed woman still appeared dazed as she brought her gaze into his own. He spoke first in German, and then when that did not work, he spoke to her in English. "Can I get you something, ma'am?"

Blinking and looking to her left, where Wilhelm had previously been seated, Luca hesitated. As though knowing what she was trying to figure out, the young man stepped to a side and pointed to Wilhelm, standing at the bar, conversing with a few other men. "Do you need to ask your husband's permission?"

Annoyed by the mere insinuation, Luca snapped, "No, I don't, and he's not my husband!"

She calmed herself for a moment, realizing that her annoyance with Wilhelm was no fault of the young man and muttered an apology. Only at that point did she remember just how far away from her homeland she was, and how much the young man didn't quite look like any of the locals. Whereas they mostly had black hair and brown eyes, the young man before her had light brown hair, cut short and curly, and piercing blue eyes. "I'll have a water," she finally choked out.

He gave her a funny look, then turned around and walked up to the bar. He seemed to continue talking for several minutes and then returned with two glasses. One with water, the other with some sort of alcoholic beverage. He took the empty seat next to Luca and passed her the water glass. When he relaxed back into the chair for a moment, it was Luca's turn to give him the funny look.

"My shift is over, and I rather enjoy the presence of beautiful women, if you don't mind, ma'am."

Oh. Is that all. Wait. Me? Luca's face flushed--or at least it would have if she were still living.

Seeing that he would have to take the initiative in this matter, the young man reached across the table and shook Luca's hand. He smiled at her and introduced himself, "My name is Gregory. And yours?"

"Luca." It had been so long since she'd talked to anyone outside of her immediate group, much less a mortal, in such a fashion. A voice spoke from behind her, though the only thing out of the whole phrase Luca understood of the whole thing was the name 'Wilhelm.' Damn. There went that chance… Looking down at Luca, Wilhelm spoke in Latin, "Who is he?"

"I am but a barkeep, my friend," came the Latin response from across the table. He then continued by listing off several other languages, ending the list in English with, "And many more."

Luca smiled in approval. "Are your talents not wasted here in this village as a barkeep?"

Gregory shrugged.

"Perhaps you would consider employment with a group of travelers who could use someone who speaks so many tongues…" Luca had discussed matters of finance with Dimitri before, if they ever needed, they had more than enough funds to properly pay someone for their services.

Gregory nodded and then gestured for them to step out of the pub. It was not wise to discuss alternate means of employment in the house of business for which one works. The two followed him out, and then by Luca's lead, continued on to the caravan.

The two men turned over the horse's water barrels and sat to discuss. Luca stepped inside the caravan, determined that they needed help and they needed it soon. She pulled one of the wine bottles that had been left over from the previous owner of the wagon. Lightly she grasped Ana's favorite pewter goblet and poured it half-full with wine. Setting the wine bottle down, she bit her finger and squeezed some of her own vitae into the already deep red wine. She glanced out to see that the two were having an in-depth discussion in what she thought was German, so she proceeded to fill the wine bottle back up the same way that she'd filled the goblet.

As she stepped out of the caravan, Luca smiled and directed her most seductive, alluring will in Gregory's direction. The young man looked up at her, unfazed until he saw the goblet in her hand. Eagerly he reached out for it.

Luca blinked a few times. Previously when she had done a similar act, the targeted person would stumble over themselves to do whatever she wished. With a shrug, she passed the drink to Gregory.

Wilhelm flashed her a quizzical look, which vanished as soon as she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to ask.

Gregory took a long sip of the wine that Luca had handed to him. It was different than any wine he had tasted before, yet something seemed so… familiar. Another sip and he felt pure ecstasy. The third confirmed what he had been wondering. "So, eh, why do you guys only travel at night and need a day-time guide again?"

Luca paused and then began her explanation, "We have an objective to carry out and people who wish to prevent us from reaching that objective. To make better time, we need to travel night and day."

"But if there are five of you as he said, why not take shifts?"

Before Luca could answer, Wilhelm leaned forward and flatly stated, "Because we are vampires."

Gregory had been about halfway through taking another sip of his wine and looked like he could choke. He even missed the burning glare that Luca shot to Wilhelm as he finished off what was left of the wine in his cup. He held his hand out to Luca, who was staring dumbly at him, and he gestured to the wine bottle that she still held. When she handed it to him, he quietly poured the glass full again, drained it, and filled it once more. He stared at the glass, as though it held the answer to the meaning of life. "You're kidding, right?"

Before Luca could even stop him Wilhelm confirmed the question with a nod and a smile. "And if you don't want to come along with us, we'll kill you."

"WILHELM!!" Luca looked as though she would rather strangle the Toreador than to look at him. After a moment, she calmed herself and quietly spoke. "Have you already forgotten what I said yesterday? No one is going to die. And that is certainly no way to treat someone that you would have watch over you by day."

…Meanwhile, on the other side of the village…

Samuel reached the hut on the edge of the village, pulled a cord a few steps away from the door, heard a bell ring within the house, and was soon greeted by a middle-aged man that bore a striking semblance to the man that they'd met in Berlin. After checking behind them several times over, they all stepped inside.

Samuel bowed his head to this man and waited a moment before he spoke. "Sir, did you perhaps have a brother in Berlin?"

The elder man stared at Samuel, and then glanced over Dimitri and Sylas as well. "I'm guessing that you're about to tell me that I don't have a brother any more then?"

The words caught in Samuel's mouth for a moment until he finally just nodded.

"Well, what do you need then? I'll not have you hanging around here getting me killed as well." The man gave the three a stern look, seemingly unaffected by the shock on Samuel's face.

Seeing as Samuel was shamed speechless, Dimitri stepped forward. "Sir, I'm sorry about your brother. If there is anything--"

"No, it's fine, it was bound to happen regardless. What do you three need?"

Dimitri hesitated before continuing. He didn't want to intrude on Samuel's information network, but it seemed that Samuel was too overwhelmed with shame and guilt to continue speaking. "Your brother discussed something about sorcerers in the forests to the south that perhaps would be in possession of some rather powerful relics. Do you know anything of these?"

The man considered for a moment and then nodded. "They are thought to be somewhere in the forest outside of town a few miles. People who have wandered in that direction disappear. Children who so much as step outside of town disappear. They are a very shifty, rather nasty bunch."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a crash resounded through the man's house. He turned around and held up a candle towards the room behind himself. It seemed no matter how he moved the light, all that the room held was darkness and thick shadow. It seemed that they were not alone…

As the man shrunk away and stepped behind the vampiric trio, they assumed defensive stances, prepared to take down whatever chose to come out of that room. They heard the soft steps of someone walking towards them, but even with their enhanced vision, they could not quite make out what was in the other room. The footsteps stopped and a light laugh crept across the room.

From the floor to their left, a black arm shot out, knocking Dimitri off-balance. Seeing his friend attacked, Sylas concentrated on his more bestial nature. His fingernails lengthened to claws and he reached over to the thing that had knocked his friend down. With one quick stroke, he slashed through it and it vanished.

Back at the caravan, the loud crash from town did not go unheard. At once, Luca knew that something was wrong, out of place. She hesitated for one moment to give Gregory one quick, long look, begging him wordlessly to stay. And then she took off more quickly than he could blink.

He sat in contemplation at Wilhelm took off behind her, but not nearly as quickly. He had his chance. He could say 'no' and go home. He could forget that he'd ever met any of them. But something in the back of his mind stopped him. Some part of him just knew that there was no escaping fate. He had taken his card and played it thus far. Might as well finish the game.

As Luca ran, rushing with all her heart and ability, her field of vision narrowed, all sound seemed to stop. She had nearly pushed herself to her limit. She was so hungry. But that had to wait for now. Her friends were in danger.

After the first tentacle-like arm shot out, several others reached out from the shadows of the house, the floor, the walls, everywhere. And they reappeared every time Sylas slashed through them. Just as Dimitri gained his bearings, the whole room fell into shadow. Thick, inky shadow that you could almost taste. Suffocating, it was like being dropped in a pit of molasses.

And then, when things couldn't seem to get any worse, everything went completely silent. Just as they all began to figure that they'd been beaten, the shadow vanished, washed away like the passing of a low tide. As everyone came to their senses, seeing that the danger had passed, they saw Luca standing in the doorway.

They took a few moments to help the man who lived at the house get back to bed, assuring him that they'd fixed his doors and that the shadows were after them, not him. Luca calmly explained that they were going to have a new driver and day-time guardian as they walked back to the caravan. When they got back, he'd already led the horses to a stream not far from where they'd left them for the night. He had the few of their supplies that were taken out packed back in, and after a few moments of conversation, they were ready to continue.

Well, it's the first time I've had the chance to get back to this in a while, but it is something that I'm determined to finish. For those of you wondering, it was Luca that caused the silence at the house as she ran up. After she diablerized the Assamite, she temporarily gained Quietess. Since it wasn't one of her normal abilities, she kicked it off instinctively. Since the LaSombra that was attacking them realized that back-up was on the way, and figured that it was Assamite back-up at that, he figured that it was high-time to hit the road.

On a side note, during the game play, it was actually out of orneriness that I kicked off Quietess, and it caused quite the commotion with the other players. Sylas in particular was rather... erm, surprised by it. And it made for quite the laugh at the end of the session that night when I told everyone what had happened. =)