The fresh snow against the ruined shell of Evelyn Poole's mansion was truly a sight to behold. The stark white against the black scorched wood and stone that remained was incomparable. It was a long shot to hope that anything survived the blaze that had consumed the imposing structure, but it had been over 2 months since Vanessa Ives had been kidnapped and they were all growing desperate, no more so than Ethan and Sir Malcolm. Searching the ruins of the once impressive mansion was the last hope they had of discovering where the Fallen Angel had taken her. Sir Malcolm and Ethan had spent weeks scouring the city of London for any hint to her whereabouts while the others researched possible locations for them to search next, they came across many Nightcomers and Vampires during their searches, however none had the information they sought. Mr Lyle had rushed back from Egypt as soon as he had received word of the young woman's disappearance to help however he could, he and Catriona would spend hours cataloguing everything they knew to try and find some connection while Dr. Seward provided a sounding board that provided a fresh look on things they already knew. Victor, bless his soul kept everyone in good health so they didn't collapse in the middle of the day, as expected Ethan and Sir Malcolm were the hardest ones to convince to rest and eat. More than once Victor had to use Vanessa and the fact that she wouldn't want them to neglect their health for her sake to get them to cooperate.
They were all here now, helping search the ruins, Dr. Seward, Catriona Hartdegen, Victor Frankenstein, Mr. Lyle, Sir Malcolm, and Ethan, this was their final hope and everyone agreed they needed all eyes possible to ensure they didn't miss anything. Though they all would do whatever they could to find Vanessa none of them were so frantic in their search as Ethan and Sir Malcolm, for they had lost her once already and were not eager to repeat the experience. However they were not the only ones searching the remains of Evelyn Poole's home that night.
"Do you really think we'll find anything here?" Victor asked Ethan
"I think we've spent the last 2 months running around like chickens with their heads cut off and this is the one place we haven't picked apart yet." Victor opened his mouth to retort when a clatter of stone sounded from across the rubble. "Who's there? Show yourself!" Ethan demanded, the response from their fellow intruder was not what they expected.
"Alright, Alright, I'm coming round, but if any of you bastards shoot me I will be Very cross with you all." The voice spoke as its owner rounded a section of wall that hadn't yet collapsed. The….woman, it seemed was still very young, barely twenty by the looks of it, her black hair was piled into a messy bun atop her head with stray curls falling out to frame her face. Her skin was pale and her face was delicate in its features, her eyes were a rich golden brown, the color of freshly toasted bread from the bakers. She wore black trousers tucked into dark brown leather boots, there was a sheathe strapped to her left thigh housing a small dagger. Her white button-down shirt was covered with a burgundy red corset and tucked into her pants. The whole ensemble was topped off with a black pea coat. She held her hands up in a mock of surrender as she approached the group. There was a ghost of a smile on her face as she watched them all take her in, not expecting an actual human being to be the one to come around the corner. The longer the silence went on her smile transformed into a smirk and she was about to comment on the silence when Sir Malcolm, always one for opportunity broke it.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"My name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Reid, and as for what I'm doing here I'd say that's fairly obvious as you all appear to be doing the same as I."
"And what do you know of this place?" he inquired. Elizabeth threw her head back with a laugh and replied,
"Oh you aren't getting it out of me That easily, you've asked me your questions and I answered so now I shall ask mine, what are you all hoping to find here?" Ethan opened his mouth to answer but Mr Lyle beat him to it
"We are here in hopes that we would find some clue as to where our friend has been taken. She was kidnapped you see, by the very same monsters who used to reside here." Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she considered the new information.
"Well, I'm afraid you won't find anything here, there's nothing left, anything of value has already been taken." Ethan no longer content to let events unfold as they were voiced his opinion.
"If you were here looking for the same thing we were then maybe you can help us, the question is why are You looking?" He met Elizabeth's gaze as he asked his question and saw her gaze harden and her hands tighten into fists.
"They took my father from me, I'm going to take their lives in return, if you'll allow me, I'll help you however I can so long as when we find them, you leave them to me" Ethan allowed a humorless smile to grace his face as he replied,
"Oh I can Definitely do that." Elizabeth gave him a cruel grin as she held out her hand.
"Then we are in accord my good man, now then I'm going to assume that you have a base of operations where we can plan further? Since we aren't going to find anything here, looking into Evelyn Poole and her connections seems like a good start." Ethan shook her hand as he introduced himself and the others,
"Indeed we do, my name is Ethan Chandler, these are my friends, Sir Malcolm, Dr. Frankenstein, Mr. Lyle, Dr. Seward, and Catriona Hartdegen." Elizabeth smiled as she nodded her head at each member of the group as Ethan introduced them,
"Pleased to meet you all, now before I can help you I must return to my home and gather everything I have in regards to these monsters so we can combine what we've got, give me your address and I will meet you all there."