The directions, though all but illegible, were straightforward at least. And so, a short plane ride later, I stepped from one desert to another. Apparently he had taken the game of hide and seek to a new level, traveling to the most random port he could find; Antarctica.
It made sense, no body temperature, so no reason to fear the cold, and an astoundingly long night. It was beyond me how he gained food, but he had a way. He always did. I thanked the pilot, though the state of his coffers should have been thanks enough.
"are you sure your dressed for this weather?" he shouted out over the wind.
"Don't worry!" I called back, "I'm used to the cold!"
Though the weather was straight out of The Day After Tomorrow, i felt no cold, and thus needed not impede my movement with thick layers. The garb i wore now was the same thing that had always covered me. The pilot took off, leaving behind what he was sure was a goner. With my only witness gone, and no more need for pretences, i took off in the right direction, with nothing but the word of a lunatic, and a little intuition to guide my feet.
When a vampire wants to go fast, he can go fast. Some are more built for speed than others, Brujah, Tzimisce, and Lasombra among the slower clans. Others, like myself, have a helpful discipline called 'Celerity'. Though sketchy, it basically speeds us up. WAY up. In the time that it takes the average person to draw their weapon, i could cut them from head to toe, fix my hair, and say a truly heartfelt eulogy. It also is useful for running. Hauling ass at top speed, i am little more than a blur. It doesn't last long, full speed anyways. Nothing comes for nothing, and the price for most disciplines was our vitae, our blood. Normally, it takes a good portion of blood to move at full speed for more than 4 seconds, but those more practiced, like myself, could 'pepper' it in, and augment our normal speed over large distances. I did this now, leaving a puff of snow in my wake. The flakes of ice stung my face like flying needles, but no true damage was done. The ground was all but frictionless, but my feet were never in one spot long enough for me to slip.
It was truly beautiful, through all the snow filled air I would occasionally catch glimpses of the landscape; a perfectly pure sheet of white, a blank canvas as it had been at the beginning, and will be again by the end. Occasionally I would catch sights of wildlife, a penguin here, a seal there... cute little buggers, and though they could feasibly be used as a source of sustenance, it didn't seem within 6 to kill such adorable, innocent creatures.
I had begun to worry that the cold would frost the barrel of my gun, when I finally saw something in the distance. At first I was unsure what I was seeing; it seemed to be no more than a large grey blob in the snow. But, as I grew closer to it, I saw what it was.
It was a castle.
At first I thought someone had cast an illusion, something I was more than familiar with, being a user of Chimerstry myself. I quickly discarded this notion, on the grounds that it was not only stupid, but a huge waste of effort to put up a huge castle illusion in the middle of an arctic wasteland. Besides, I can distinguish fantasy from reality, unless everything I have seen in the past twenty five years has been an illusion, which is a thought I am still entertaining as a possibility.
I continued on my path, which was directly in the direction of the castle, which it turns out, was immense, fully equip with ballista, needles, and other castle-y things. Worried about my gear, I pushed my Celerity for all it was worth, and was at the door before I know it.
Despite the subzero tempretures, the gate opned easily. i slipped inside and shut the door, glad to be out of the wind. i turned my back to the door, taking in my bearings. i found myself in a hallway, light by sparce torches lining the walls. as my eyes adjusted to the dark, and my ears to the lack of wind, i begain to make out details. it had a tall ceiling, pillars, a long red carpet, the whole regal shabang.
a noise met my ears, ehoing from along the hall. it was hard to identify what it was, due to the acostics of the building; echos upon echos. curious, i followed the hall to its end, a large wooden double-door. at a glance it seemed to be 7 feet tall and at least a foot thick; it was made to keep people out. i sat on my haunches, contemplating how to gain entrance.
if, infact, it was a thick as i suspected, there was little chance of my breaking through. given time, i could probably break it down, but that would require tools that i did'nt have. i could shoot my way through, had the cold not chilled the barrel. the heat of the bullet fireing would cause the metal to rapidly expand from its curently contracted state, leaving it shattered and useless. not to mention the fact that it would be horribly rude.
i raised to my feet, ready to look for something to break the door down with, when a stupid thought occured to me. with a frown, i slowly walked to the door... and pushed it right open. with a roll of my eyes, and an mental smack to my cheek, i stepped through, into the sound.
as i saw the source, the sound solidified, and became whole.
music. the sound had been music.
i had stepped into a large room, at least 300 feet from wall to wall. there whre two doors, besides the one i had entered from, and a large red curtan completly obscureing one wall.
the music, which had till now been simple meaningless noise, origonated from the center of the room. more precicely, from the giutar held by the man i the center. he sat on a small stool, eyes focused on the floor, he played masterfully.i diddnt recognise the song, or the man, but both were very well made. at the angle i was, i couldnt make out his face, but i could see that he was swathed in dark clothing, wearing large boots, and sporting short spikes on his head.
his melody swelled, seeming to almost bring warmth to the room. reluctant to interrupt, but requiring information, i slowly walked up to him. my footseps filled the room, and almost seemed to become one with his music.
there was a sudden flash of movement, and i dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile he had thrown. i rolled to my feet, though he was already on his, all with out missing a note. his gaze, now target away from the floor, fell upon me, blazing with a strange passion. his arm flew up, and hit a chord that seemed to reveberate through the building, somehow amplified. shadows sprung form his instrument, and surrounded me. the liquid black solidified, and took on the form of humanoids.
what the hell? i shouted in the corner of my mind, what is this? looks like obtenebration, but this is far more complex and advanced than anything i've seen...
the shadows started to move, in a strange fluid , dancing motion. their bodies shudderd and morphed, and their color darkened. strange instruments appered in thier hands, their forms turned anamilistic, and they became solid. more than a little off guard, i leapt bakward, brushing past one, who seemed to be holding a flute. they made no immedient attempt ot follow me with anything other than their gaze. there seemed to be about five of them, each holding something different. the oblects they held, like themselves, shuddred and moved, and seemed to be caught between two states of being. they changed form, from instrument, to weapon.
one held what could either be a flute, or a blowpipe, another a giutar, or a battle axe. a third had a pair of bladed drumsticks, the fourth a keytaur (a giutars with piano keys), with sharpened keys. the fifth held a microphone stand. all the while, the man kept playing.
the music swelled, growing louder and more intense... them a strange bonechilling silence. the whole room went quiet, which seemed almost painfull after the loud cresendo. suddenly, the shadow with the mic screamed into the air, and the song begain again. the shadows joined blasted forth, playing their instruments, and rushing forth towards me. i was sturred into motion, whipping my cane from my belt, and stood at the ready. i ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding a dart from the piper. again, i weaved to the side, dodging a second shot. the music swelled as they reached me, and crashed as they attacked.
the shade with the saw-like keytaur swung it at me, drawing only a single drop of blood due to my fast movements. i had jumped backward to avoid his blow, but now the drummer came for me, swinging his sticks like a madman. i swung my cane, batting aside his slices with difficulty. a quick, unexpected movement on his part got past my defences, scoring a long slice olong my arm.
"Bad... Idea" i hissed. now i was hurt, AND mad. i whirled into a fit of Celerity, impaeling him 5 quick times in succesion. as my cane peirced him for the last time, the music screeched as he dissolved, and all the players shuddred.
a moment later this lapse was forgotten, as they again attacked, and continued with the song, which now took on heavy metal qualities. the shadow with the giutar came for me, visciously swinging his axe. i ducked below his swing, and slammed my shoulder into his stomach, sending his sprawning. i felt a sharp pain in my side, as the flute player scored his first hit. i roared in anger, and sprung towards him, again popping Celerity. an instant later, as the now dead fluteist evaporated, the music jerked again, the players following suit. i took advantage of the momentary ceasefire to pluck the dart from my skin, and pant heavily. all these bursts of Celerity enhanced speed were taking its toll on me. i was feeling light headed, and more than a little tired. i only had about one shot left in me, then lights out. the 'band' recovered, and rushed towards me. the singer weilding his stand like a quarter staff one second, swinging his shadowy mic like a mace the next.
l retreated to the other side of the room, keeping my eyes on them. i had killed two so far, the drummer and the wind instrument player. all that remained were the singer, the base giutarist, and the keyborder.
Wait... what happened to their leader?
my eyes darted around the room, falling on the dark man who had summoned these monsters in the first place. he had not moved since he had sicced them on me, save for his fingers, which still moved with blinding speed along his strings. his eyes still contained all the fire they had shown earlier, but they were focused, not on me, but on the players, which still made their way to my position.
suddenly the anwser occured to me! it was so simple! falling on my final burst of speed, i crossed the distance between me and the mystery player. i returned to normal speed as i reached him, much to his apperent shock. with one deft move, i snached the instrument from his hands, swung around, and broke it across his music screeched to a halt, as the shadows were ripped asunder.
dropped from the force of my blow, the man had fallen uncounsciuous. now sick from lack of blood, i was not far behind. my breathing was labored, and my vision was blurry. the room swam infront of my eyes as i dropped to my knees. a strange sound filled my ears, which was incomprehencaple to my addled mind. i fell forward to the floor, the darkness closing in before i hit the ground. the last action my mind completed before shutting down was connecting the sound to a word.
applause? i wondered, there applauding me?