November 27, 1800. 2:01 am
Geneva by Night
Seldes stood-or rather, squatted-behind a smokestack on the roof of Carleigh's old factory. It was lucky she had had this built here. Best vantage point in the city. He adjusted his telescope to focus on the front of the house they assumed to be the Society's stronghold. The house where Sugar had been captured.
And to think he had wondered whether or not he would need this instrument.
The house was silent and dark. But of course that meant nothing. They could be meeting around the back, where trees obstructed Seldes' veiw, or they could be in the basement, or even worse, they could have changed bases of operation!
He sighed and closed up the telescope. He had to get closer; that was all there was to it. Just as he was planning which rooftop to jump onto, an almost undetectable sound of a window opening got his attention.
He froze, alowing all his senses to go to alert. It could be a human assasin. Then again, it could also be a vampire assasin. But the latter was supposed to be here. Sharma should be back by now...but wouldn't she have used the door?
'Of course she wouldn't use the door, you imbecile.' Seldes mentally chastised himself. 'Why would she use the door? That would be too normal.'
He climbed down through the roof hatch. Sure enough, Sharma had infiltrated the factory through a second story window. She sat on one of the long tables, wiping her sword with a rag.
"Hello." Seldes called. "Run into trouble?"
The Assamite didn't even look up from her work. "No."
"Then...why are you cleaning your sword?" Seldes indicated the sword.
This time Sharma looked at him as if he had asked the most ridiculous question in the world. Finally, after a long pause,
"It is a scimtar."
"A rose by any other name...."
"What?"
"Nevermind." Seldes shook his head. "So, did you make it to the house?"
"Of course." Sharma was back to polishing.
Seldes stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to continue. She didn't.
"And?" he prodded.
She looked up. "And nothing. The house is deserted."
"Did you get in?"
"Yes."
"Well, did you find anything that might indicate where they went?"
"No."
"Well, what DID you find?"
"Nothing of consequence."
"They took everything with them?"
"Assumably."
"Do you have any idea where they went?"
"No."
"Okay..." Seldes sighed, massaging his temples. These 'debriefing' sessions with Sharma were always so excruciating. Monosyllabic answers, no freely volunteered details...anything he wanted to know he had to ask for specifically. She could be utterly maddening. It wasn't like he was asking her the secrets of her clan leaders!
"Alright." he said in an attempt to get back to business. "So the Society has relocated. They could be anywhere, with this whole city under their control. We have to find them." he looked at his partner. No reaction. "Are you listening?"
No reaction.
"Sharma!"
She looked up at him as if he had interrupted something important.
"Okay, look." Seldes crossed his arms. "I know you would rather be with your own clan right now. So do I. And I appriciate the fact that you would like nothing better than to go back to India and forget all about the rest of us. But you can't do that right now. You have to understand that. And while you are understanding that, try to understand also that we need to make the best of the situation we find ourselves in. That means you and I have to work together." he paused, searching her face for some middle ground. There was none. "I'm not asking you to turn your back on your clan or betray the things you care about. I'm just asking you to work with me. There's no way any of us can be sure of anything anmore. We need each other. I know that's kind of an abhorrant concept for someone like you; to have to depend on other clans, but you have no other choice. Once we get all this mess sorted out, you can return to your people. But we're never going to get it sorted out unless we work together." he paused. "You're not listening at all, are you?" he groaned.
Sharma didn't look up from her scimtar.
"What are you trying to do, rub the metal off?!" Seldes exclaimed in frustration.
No response.
"Fine. I'm going to go look for some clue to the Society's whereabouts. You don't have to come. We wouldn't want to get your sword dirty!" He clamored down to the stairs in a huff.
"Scimtar." Sharma said flatly just before the Nosferatu was out of earshot.
"Whatever!" Seldes shouted back.
He couldn't take it. This was just to much. He tried to be nice, he tried to be understanding, but even HIS patience had limits! Why was she treating him with such cold indifference? Was it just because he was a member of another clan?
"I try to talk to her. I try to extend an olive branch. I try to make this partnership work, and she won't even acknowledge my existance! Oh, unless I call her stupid sword by the wrong name. Then she'll say something."
He was in such a state he almost walked out of the factory without activating his mask.
"Ack!" he exclaimed, jumping back from the door. "I really need to calm down....before I scare some small children." he sighed.
After he gave himself a nice dose of Obfuscate, he exited the building once more.
Seldes strolled down the street, trying to look as normal and casual as it was possible to look while walking around town at two in the morning. There had to be a better way to do this.
He stopped in the middle of a deserted street and tapped his foot on the ground. There. Thank goodness Geneva was a city equipped with a sewar system. Now he just had to find the nearest access to the underground.
Luckily, there was a large pipe portruding from the ground in an alleyway not half a block from there. He dropped down into the familiararity of darkness and grime, but didn't abandon his mask just yet. He didn't know when he would need to resurface.
This arrangement worked much better. Above ground, he could be easily spotted. Even if he had used Cloak of Shadows or another Obfuscate technique, there was no way he could know whether or not the Geneva Society had members with the ability to see past vampiric Disciplines. Most likely, they did. How else could they have become strong enough to drive every vampire out of the city?
With that in mind, the sewers had clearly been the best choice. His eyes adjusted to the darkness easily. If he remembered correctly, the Society's base had been to the northwest of here, and the northwest was....that way.
As he walked through the grime coverd stone tunnels, his mind drifted back to the earlier scene with Sharma. He just couldn't figure her out. From what he had seen, nearly all of the others were at least trying to get along. Not necessarily succeeding, particularly in the cases of Carid and Amy, but at least they weren't being dileberately uncooperative...all the time. Sharma, on the other hand....so far, she had spoken only to him and to Michaela Greywauld.
Seldes sighed. He of all people knew what it was like to be seperated from your people, particularly when your people were very clan-oriented. The Nosferatu dealt with other clans, but in the end, most Nosferatu trusted only their own kind. He himself wasn't among these, but even so. The Assamites never dealt with other clans. Except of course to kill them. But then, some said the Nosferatu never dealt with other clans except to spy on them.
Now that he thought about it, the Assamites and the Nosferatu really had a lot in common. Clan-oriented lifestyle, relative seperation from other clans, and of course a debilitating weakness.
The wheels in Seldes' head began turning. It could very well be that Sharma felt she had nothing in common with the other clans. Chances were she'd spent her whole unlife in the Middle East and never so much as spoken to a non-Assamite. Therefore, maybe by pointing out the similarities between their clans, he could start to chip away a little of her shell.
He stood under another large hole in the ground now; this one fairly close to the Society's base of operations. He would save congratulating himself for his brilliant people skills until later. Right now he had to get to the work Sharma should have already done.....yet refused to tell him about.
With practiced ease, he lept up the pipe and landed noiselessly on the cobblestone street. Once there, he quickly activated Cloak of Shadows. He was willing to risk it for such a short distance.
He slipped through the shadows lining the street and came up alongside the burnt-out front of the house. Considering this area hadn't been fixed up at all, it was easy to believe that the Society had just switched locations. Almost too easy to believe.
He crept into the remnants of the parlor. Nothing here but ashes and assorted lumber. The rest of the ground floor was almost as bad. Messy and deserted. As if everyone had left in a panic.
From what Seldes had heard about the chaos Michaela, Sugar, and Courtney had caused, that may have been exactly what had happened.
Further down that hall, he inspected the study, finding nothing but a few scraps of paper in the fireplace. However, on closer inspection these proved to be nothing more than pathetic attempts at a decoy. Obviously, the Society knew about the techniques required to read a peice of paper even after it had been burnt to a crisp. What they did not seem to be familiar with was the psychic art of psychometry. That is, the ability to decipher an object's history by tuning into the energies surrounding it. Their carelessness was surprising to say the least. Psychometry was practiced among human mages. Either they were truly panicked beyond all rational thought or....
They deliberately planted a decoy paper that they knew he would know was a decoy so he would think they were stupid so they could catch him off guard because the decoy paper was a decoy for something else completely!
Seldes repeated that stetement in his head a couple times.
I sound like a conspiracy theorist Malkavian. he concluded after a moment's thought. But even so. It was better to be paranoid than staked.
He placed the peice of paper back on the hearth in the exact spot in which he had found it. Nothing valuable on it anyway, and it was best to not let anyone find clues that he'd been there.
Seldes slipped out of the room and crept up the staircase. The top floor was slightly less destroyed than the downstairs, but it was still far from tidy.
This really was a nice house. One of those very old ones that didn't have a ceiling between the first floor and the rafters. What a pity it had been put to such nefarious use.
Suddenly, his ears perked up. Was that....? He turned slowly as another small noise emitted from below him.
Seldes forced himself to remain calm. It could very well be Sharma. Maybe she felt guilty about brushing him off earlier.
Now there are only two things wrong with that idea. a little voice in the back of his mind chided. One, she wouldn't make any noise. And two, it's really very unlikely that she should feel guilty about anything!
Seldes could definitely hear footsteps now. He had to think! These people had staked Sugar Kelly....they would make mincemeat out of him! Physical Disciplines were not his strong suit. He looked around desperately. Windows? None in the hallway, and he couldn't risk going into one of the rooms. Doors always creaked like the devil whenever you really needed them to be silent. It was a natural law.
Suddenly, it hit him. Maybe he couldn't get away, but he did have one advantage. These people were probably not looking for him. So he could just hide. No problem at all.
He jumped up into the rafter much as he had jumped out of the sewar. Silently and easily. Once he got there, though, it was another story.
His legs teetered on the crossbeam. It wasn't nearly wide enough....not to mention his center of gravity was perpetually off balance. That wasn't a problem when hiding in small dark holes. On the ground. But up here, when he actually had to balance....it was a bit of a problem. He considered straightening up, just to be better centered, but then remembered how much noise his spine made whenever he tried to displace it like that.
He grabbed onto one of the vertical beams. It looked like he'd just have to hold on tight and hope the humans didn't stay long.
"Where is it, Papa?!" a childish voice cried. Seldes nearly fell over in shock. They had children involved in this?! Courtney had been teasing Sugar about a little girl, but it seemed so unbelieveable...
A small blonde girl, looking no older than nine or ten, hurried into the hallway, accompanied by two grown men.
"Hurry up, Helena!" one of the men said harshly. "We have far more important matters to attend to right now then the whereabouts of your necklace!"
The child look hurt. "But Mama gave it to me before the vampire killed her!" she wailed. "I can't leave here without it!"
Leave here?? Seldes' eyes widened. Was the Society abbandoning the city? Or just this location in the city?
The little girl spun around and ran into one of the rooms. So her mother was killed by a vampire. That would explain such hostility at such a young age.
The man-her father, Seldes assumed- impatiently tapped his foot against the floorboards. "What kind of information have you gathered on the new fiends that invade our city?" he turned to the other man.
His companion looked slightly uncomfortable. "Not much, sir. Yet." he added quickly. "They seem to appear out of the sky, and disappear into the hills just as quickly."
"Why have you not followed them?!"
The clearly younger man looked flustered. "S-sir..we do not have the supplies...the men...the-the ability to scale the Alps! WE have not the supernatural powers of the fiends!"
Seldes was so intent on memorizing the conversation that he didn't realize....
All of a sudden, he felt his cramped leg slip out from under him completely. Luckily, the sound of him gasping in shock and grabbing the vertical beam with all his might was covered by Helena slamming the door to the first room and entering the one across the hall.
This was not good, this was not good, this was not good! He could feel his other leg giving way, and because of his position, he was unable to pull his other leg back up! Number one, he was missing the verbal beating Helena's father was giving his subordinate. Number two, if either of them looked up right now....and had the ability of Heightened Senses....
At least there were only two of them....and they didn't look armed. He might be able to take them. If he recovered his wits in time after falling headfirst to the ground.
He knew he was falling. He also knew that these men were not going to leave between now and him hitting the ground. So it was better to just bite the bullet, jump down on them, and make a run for it before they figured out what had happened.
It was a risky plan. Celerity was another Discipline he lacked skill in. Oh why oh why hadn't he practiced physical Disicplines more?! Granted, he never would have forseen this situation, but even so....
Helena ran in and out of another room. As she darted across the hallway, the two men paused to give her annoyed and impatient glances.
Now! Seldes' mind screamed. He braced his still partially stable leg to jump....
But the tightening of the muscle sent the twisted leg slightly backwards. Backwards and off the beam.
Before Seldes' mind could so much as register the fact that he was falling backwards, a strong hand snatched his sleeve. The Nosferatu hung, suspended by his arm and completely stunned.
"I found it!" Helena's small but shrill voice cried and the girl scurried into the hallway. She clung to a jade pendant strung on a leather cord as if her life depended on it.
"About time!" her father grunted, turning to leave. "Come, quickly! The streets are never safe at night, fiends or no fiends. Especially for little girls!"
His daughter sent a glare that could have frozen hell over at his back, but she obediantly followed him and his companion down the stairs and out of the house.
Seldes remained completely still, albeit in an uncomfortable position, for several moments after the slam of what was left of the door was heard from below. The Nosferatu was still at a total loss to exactly what had just happened. Not to mention he just couldn't seem to stop blinking his eyes.
But the sudden pain of being yanked upwards by his arm forced his eyelids to cease and desist. He attempted to twist around and look upwards, but all he managed to do was dislocate his shoulder. He bit back a small scream. It wasn't so bad....really....
After what was only a few seconds but seemed like an eternity of agony, Seldes found himself deposited, in a sitting position this time, on a slightly higher beam.
The Nosferatu forced his eyes to focus. He looked around, the wrong way at first, but when he turned his head to the left he found himself staring at a pair of white-clad kneecaps.
He looked upwards and into the dark face and darker eyes of Sharma Hassam.
The Assamite stood beside him on the beam, as coordinated and stable as any circus rope-walker.
Seldes winced as his shoulder spasmed again. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he grabbed the displaced joint with his other hand and with a sickening crunch, snapped his shoulder back into place.
"Ow." He stated calmly. He looked up at the expressionless visage of his rescuer. "Well, thank you for catching me...I think. Can we go home now?"
Minutes later, the two Cainites were in the sewars Seldes had discovered and heading back to the factory.
"I mean it, you know." Seldes said, slightly breathless, as he tried to keep pace with his partner. Walking on your hands was not an easy business when your shoulder had just been twisted out of place. "Thank you. You probably saved my life. Just about anything on the ground could have been used as stake, and if I had fallen-which I was going to, I'm not all that coordinated, obviously...." Seldes voice trailed off. He knew he was babbling. A sure sign that he had actually been scared. But as soon as he stopped speaking, his partner stopped dead ten feet ahead of him.
"I am quite aware of the potential dangers of that area." Sharma said with absolutely no expression, not facing Seldes. "And I am also aware of your shortcomings as a warrior." The Nosferatu flinched, but he knew full well it was the truth. "Which is why," Sharma continued, "that particular reconnasissance mission was assingned to me."
Seldes just about fell over. "Yes, Sharma, it WAS assigned to you!" he gasped, throughly exasperated. "But if you're just going to sit there and polish your SWORD and not tell anybody what you discovered on that mission, your reconnaissance is no good to anybody! Now as I said before, I know you're used to working alone, but surely you understand the need for cooperation! Does it really matter that much that I'm not a-"
"Stop." Sharma calmly but firmly cut him off. "Stop scrutinizing me." She turned to face Seldes at last.
"I don't need you to tell me what my motivations, beliefs, and understandings are. You think you understand and interpret others so well. You know nothing of my life or unlife. You know nothing of ME. You do not understand me. You do not indentify with me. If you knew everyting there was to me, you would want nothing to do with me."
"That's not--"
"Do not contradict a statement when you have no knowledge of its source. Did I not just say you know nothing of me? How do you know what I am guilty of?" she paused. "Your clan is an amiable one, Nosferatu. But centuries as the brokers of information have given you the mistaken conviction that you know all. You do not." With that, the Assamite turned and continued down the catacombs.
"Sharma!" Seldes cried, hurrying to catch up to her. With much effort, he overtook the girl (who, luckily, had too much dignity to run from him) and scrambled in front of her, blocking her path.
She glared at him, but Seldes would not be stared down.
"Look, you're right. I don't know you. I don't know where you came from, I don't know what motivates you. I've tried to get to know you, Sharma. But you won't let me. It seems like you're hiding behind every Assamite sterotype ever created. Why is that? I've been trying to figure it out ever since I met you. Why don't you want anyone to know you? Do you think everyone will hate you?"
You don't know me, either. You seem to think I'm a lot more innocent than I actually am. You think I haven't seen the worst of what people can do, kine and Kindred alike?"
Listen, like it or not, you and I are stuck with each other. We are going to have to at least understand each other, if not actually know one another."
Sharma let her head drop forward in a gesture of resignation. Maybe know they could at least talk, or so Seldes hoped.
"So?" he prodded.
"So...." the Assamite echoed after a moment's pause. Unexpectedly, she dropped down into a squat thart brought her almost eye level with the Nosferatu.
"You say you have been trying to 'figure me out' ever since we met.."
Seldes nodded slowly.
"Stop." she said simply. "Trying to 'figure' your partner out is no way to begin such a relationship. First, learn your partner's skills, strengths, and weaknesses in battle and tactics." she stood.
"A deeper understanding will come." she finished, and slowly walked around Seldes and further down the sewar.
Seldes remained where he was for a few moments, utterly speechless for the first time in his life. Lucky you, Seldes. A voice int he back of his mind said. You've just been given a glimpse of Assamite teamwork strategy.
He shook his head is fascination. Sharma was quite a.....girl, woman, Assamite, Kindred, moving organism....whatever she was. He resolved to play this game her way. For the time being. She would have to learn his way eventually. But as she said, a deeper understanding would come.
He scuttled down the dark caves after her.
Geneva by Night
Seldes stood-or rather, squatted-behind a smokestack on the roof of Carleigh's old factory. It was lucky she had had this built here. Best vantage point in the city. He adjusted his telescope to focus on the front of the house they assumed to be the Society's stronghold. The house where Sugar had been captured.
And to think he had wondered whether or not he would need this instrument.
The house was silent and dark. But of course that meant nothing. They could be meeting around the back, where trees obstructed Seldes' veiw, or they could be in the basement, or even worse, they could have changed bases of operation!
He sighed and closed up the telescope. He had to get closer; that was all there was to it. Just as he was planning which rooftop to jump onto, an almost undetectable sound of a window opening got his attention.
He froze, alowing all his senses to go to alert. It could be a human assasin. Then again, it could also be a vampire assasin. But the latter was supposed to be here. Sharma should be back by now...but wouldn't she have used the door?
'Of course she wouldn't use the door, you imbecile.' Seldes mentally chastised himself. 'Why would she use the door? That would be too normal.'
He climbed down through the roof hatch. Sure enough, Sharma had infiltrated the factory through a second story window. She sat on one of the long tables, wiping her sword with a rag.
"Hello." Seldes called. "Run into trouble?"
The Assamite didn't even look up from her work. "No."
"Then...why are you cleaning your sword?" Seldes indicated the sword.
This time Sharma looked at him as if he had asked the most ridiculous question in the world. Finally, after a long pause,
"It is a scimtar."
"A rose by any other name...."
"What?"
"Nevermind." Seldes shook his head. "So, did you make it to the house?"
"Of course." Sharma was back to polishing.
Seldes stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to continue. She didn't.
"And?" he prodded.
She looked up. "And nothing. The house is deserted."
"Did you get in?"
"Yes."
"Well, did you find anything that might indicate where they went?"
"No."
"Well, what DID you find?"
"Nothing of consequence."
"They took everything with them?"
"Assumably."
"Do you have any idea where they went?"
"No."
"Okay..." Seldes sighed, massaging his temples. These 'debriefing' sessions with Sharma were always so excruciating. Monosyllabic answers, no freely volunteered details...anything he wanted to know he had to ask for specifically. She could be utterly maddening. It wasn't like he was asking her the secrets of her clan leaders!
"Alright." he said in an attempt to get back to business. "So the Society has relocated. They could be anywhere, with this whole city under their control. We have to find them." he looked at his partner. No reaction. "Are you listening?"
No reaction.
"Sharma!"
She looked up at him as if he had interrupted something important.
"Okay, look." Seldes crossed his arms. "I know you would rather be with your own clan right now. So do I. And I appriciate the fact that you would like nothing better than to go back to India and forget all about the rest of us. But you can't do that right now. You have to understand that. And while you are understanding that, try to understand also that we need to make the best of the situation we find ourselves in. That means you and I have to work together." he paused, searching her face for some middle ground. There was none. "I'm not asking you to turn your back on your clan or betray the things you care about. I'm just asking you to work with me. There's no way any of us can be sure of anything anmore. We need each other. I know that's kind of an abhorrant concept for someone like you; to have to depend on other clans, but you have no other choice. Once we get all this mess sorted out, you can return to your people. But we're never going to get it sorted out unless we work together." he paused. "You're not listening at all, are you?" he groaned.
Sharma didn't look up from her scimtar.
"What are you trying to do, rub the metal off?!" Seldes exclaimed in frustration.
No response.
"Fine. I'm going to go look for some clue to the Society's whereabouts. You don't have to come. We wouldn't want to get your sword dirty!" He clamored down to the stairs in a huff.
"Scimtar." Sharma said flatly just before the Nosferatu was out of earshot.
"Whatever!" Seldes shouted back.
He couldn't take it. This was just to much. He tried to be nice, he tried to be understanding, but even HIS patience had limits! Why was she treating him with such cold indifference? Was it just because he was a member of another clan?
"I try to talk to her. I try to extend an olive branch. I try to make this partnership work, and she won't even acknowledge my existance! Oh, unless I call her stupid sword by the wrong name. Then she'll say something."
He was in such a state he almost walked out of the factory without activating his mask.
"Ack!" he exclaimed, jumping back from the door. "I really need to calm down....before I scare some small children." he sighed.
After he gave himself a nice dose of Obfuscate, he exited the building once more.
Seldes strolled down the street, trying to look as normal and casual as it was possible to look while walking around town at two in the morning. There had to be a better way to do this.
He stopped in the middle of a deserted street and tapped his foot on the ground. There. Thank goodness Geneva was a city equipped with a sewar system. Now he just had to find the nearest access to the underground.
Luckily, there was a large pipe portruding from the ground in an alleyway not half a block from there. He dropped down into the familiararity of darkness and grime, but didn't abandon his mask just yet. He didn't know when he would need to resurface.
This arrangement worked much better. Above ground, he could be easily spotted. Even if he had used Cloak of Shadows or another Obfuscate technique, there was no way he could know whether or not the Geneva Society had members with the ability to see past vampiric Disciplines. Most likely, they did. How else could they have become strong enough to drive every vampire out of the city?
With that in mind, the sewers had clearly been the best choice. His eyes adjusted to the darkness easily. If he remembered correctly, the Society's base had been to the northwest of here, and the northwest was....that way.
As he walked through the grime coverd stone tunnels, his mind drifted back to the earlier scene with Sharma. He just couldn't figure her out. From what he had seen, nearly all of the others were at least trying to get along. Not necessarily succeeding, particularly in the cases of Carid and Amy, but at least they weren't being dileberately uncooperative...all the time. Sharma, on the other hand....so far, she had spoken only to him and to Michaela Greywauld.
Seldes sighed. He of all people knew what it was like to be seperated from your people, particularly when your people were very clan-oriented. The Nosferatu dealt with other clans, but in the end, most Nosferatu trusted only their own kind. He himself wasn't among these, but even so. The Assamites never dealt with other clans. Except of course to kill them. But then, some said the Nosferatu never dealt with other clans except to spy on them.
Now that he thought about it, the Assamites and the Nosferatu really had a lot in common. Clan-oriented lifestyle, relative seperation from other clans, and of course a debilitating weakness.
The wheels in Seldes' head began turning. It could very well be that Sharma felt she had nothing in common with the other clans. Chances were she'd spent her whole unlife in the Middle East and never so much as spoken to a non-Assamite. Therefore, maybe by pointing out the similarities between their clans, he could start to chip away a little of her shell.
He stood under another large hole in the ground now; this one fairly close to the Society's base of operations. He would save congratulating himself for his brilliant people skills until later. Right now he had to get to the work Sharma should have already done.....yet refused to tell him about.
With practiced ease, he lept up the pipe and landed noiselessly on the cobblestone street. Once there, he quickly activated Cloak of Shadows. He was willing to risk it for such a short distance.
He slipped through the shadows lining the street and came up alongside the burnt-out front of the house. Considering this area hadn't been fixed up at all, it was easy to believe that the Society had just switched locations. Almost too easy to believe.
He crept into the remnants of the parlor. Nothing here but ashes and assorted lumber. The rest of the ground floor was almost as bad. Messy and deserted. As if everyone had left in a panic.
From what Seldes had heard about the chaos Michaela, Sugar, and Courtney had caused, that may have been exactly what had happened.
Further down that hall, he inspected the study, finding nothing but a few scraps of paper in the fireplace. However, on closer inspection these proved to be nothing more than pathetic attempts at a decoy. Obviously, the Society knew about the techniques required to read a peice of paper even after it had been burnt to a crisp. What they did not seem to be familiar with was the psychic art of psychometry. That is, the ability to decipher an object's history by tuning into the energies surrounding it. Their carelessness was surprising to say the least. Psychometry was practiced among human mages. Either they were truly panicked beyond all rational thought or....
They deliberately planted a decoy paper that they knew he would know was a decoy so he would think they were stupid so they could catch him off guard because the decoy paper was a decoy for something else completely!
Seldes repeated that stetement in his head a couple times.
I sound like a conspiracy theorist Malkavian. he concluded after a moment's thought. But even so. It was better to be paranoid than staked.
He placed the peice of paper back on the hearth in the exact spot in which he had found it. Nothing valuable on it anyway, and it was best to not let anyone find clues that he'd been there.
Seldes slipped out of the room and crept up the staircase. The top floor was slightly less destroyed than the downstairs, but it was still far from tidy.
This really was a nice house. One of those very old ones that didn't have a ceiling between the first floor and the rafters. What a pity it had been put to such nefarious use.
Suddenly, his ears perked up. Was that....? He turned slowly as another small noise emitted from below him.
Seldes forced himself to remain calm. It could very well be Sharma. Maybe she felt guilty about brushing him off earlier.
Now there are only two things wrong with that idea. a little voice in the back of his mind chided. One, she wouldn't make any noise. And two, it's really very unlikely that she should feel guilty about anything!
Seldes could definitely hear footsteps now. He had to think! These people had staked Sugar Kelly....they would make mincemeat out of him! Physical Disciplines were not his strong suit. He looked around desperately. Windows? None in the hallway, and he couldn't risk going into one of the rooms. Doors always creaked like the devil whenever you really needed them to be silent. It was a natural law.
Suddenly, it hit him. Maybe he couldn't get away, but he did have one advantage. These people were probably not looking for him. So he could just hide. No problem at all.
He jumped up into the rafter much as he had jumped out of the sewar. Silently and easily. Once he got there, though, it was another story.
His legs teetered on the crossbeam. It wasn't nearly wide enough....not to mention his center of gravity was perpetually off balance. That wasn't a problem when hiding in small dark holes. On the ground. But up here, when he actually had to balance....it was a bit of a problem. He considered straightening up, just to be better centered, but then remembered how much noise his spine made whenever he tried to displace it like that.
He grabbed onto one of the vertical beams. It looked like he'd just have to hold on tight and hope the humans didn't stay long.
"Where is it, Papa?!" a childish voice cried. Seldes nearly fell over in shock. They had children involved in this?! Courtney had been teasing Sugar about a little girl, but it seemed so unbelieveable...
A small blonde girl, looking no older than nine or ten, hurried into the hallway, accompanied by two grown men.
"Hurry up, Helena!" one of the men said harshly. "We have far more important matters to attend to right now then the whereabouts of your necklace!"
The child look hurt. "But Mama gave it to me before the vampire killed her!" she wailed. "I can't leave here without it!"
Leave here?? Seldes' eyes widened. Was the Society abbandoning the city? Or just this location in the city?
The little girl spun around and ran into one of the rooms. So her mother was killed by a vampire. That would explain such hostility at such a young age.
The man-her father, Seldes assumed- impatiently tapped his foot against the floorboards. "What kind of information have you gathered on the new fiends that invade our city?" he turned to the other man.
His companion looked slightly uncomfortable. "Not much, sir. Yet." he added quickly. "They seem to appear out of the sky, and disappear into the hills just as quickly."
"Why have you not followed them?!"
The clearly younger man looked flustered. "S-sir..we do not have the supplies...the men...the-the ability to scale the Alps! WE have not the supernatural powers of the fiends!"
Seldes was so intent on memorizing the conversation that he didn't realize....
All of a sudden, he felt his cramped leg slip out from under him completely. Luckily, the sound of him gasping in shock and grabbing the vertical beam with all his might was covered by Helena slamming the door to the first room and entering the one across the hall.
This was not good, this was not good, this was not good! He could feel his other leg giving way, and because of his position, he was unable to pull his other leg back up! Number one, he was missing the verbal beating Helena's father was giving his subordinate. Number two, if either of them looked up right now....and had the ability of Heightened Senses....
At least there were only two of them....and they didn't look armed. He might be able to take them. If he recovered his wits in time after falling headfirst to the ground.
He knew he was falling. He also knew that these men were not going to leave between now and him hitting the ground. So it was better to just bite the bullet, jump down on them, and make a run for it before they figured out what had happened.
It was a risky plan. Celerity was another Discipline he lacked skill in. Oh why oh why hadn't he practiced physical Disicplines more?! Granted, he never would have forseen this situation, but even so....
Helena ran in and out of another room. As she darted across the hallway, the two men paused to give her annoyed and impatient glances.
Now! Seldes' mind screamed. He braced his still partially stable leg to jump....
But the tightening of the muscle sent the twisted leg slightly backwards. Backwards and off the beam.
Before Seldes' mind could so much as register the fact that he was falling backwards, a strong hand snatched his sleeve. The Nosferatu hung, suspended by his arm and completely stunned.
"I found it!" Helena's small but shrill voice cried and the girl scurried into the hallway. She clung to a jade pendant strung on a leather cord as if her life depended on it.
"About time!" her father grunted, turning to leave. "Come, quickly! The streets are never safe at night, fiends or no fiends. Especially for little girls!"
His daughter sent a glare that could have frozen hell over at his back, but she obediantly followed him and his companion down the stairs and out of the house.
Seldes remained completely still, albeit in an uncomfortable position, for several moments after the slam of what was left of the door was heard from below. The Nosferatu was still at a total loss to exactly what had just happened. Not to mention he just couldn't seem to stop blinking his eyes.
But the sudden pain of being yanked upwards by his arm forced his eyelids to cease and desist. He attempted to twist around and look upwards, but all he managed to do was dislocate his shoulder. He bit back a small scream. It wasn't so bad....really....
After what was only a few seconds but seemed like an eternity of agony, Seldes found himself deposited, in a sitting position this time, on a slightly higher beam.
The Nosferatu forced his eyes to focus. He looked around, the wrong way at first, but when he turned his head to the left he found himself staring at a pair of white-clad kneecaps.
He looked upwards and into the dark face and darker eyes of Sharma Hassam.
The Assamite stood beside him on the beam, as coordinated and stable as any circus rope-walker.
Seldes winced as his shoulder spasmed again. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he grabbed the displaced joint with his other hand and with a sickening crunch, snapped his shoulder back into place.
"Ow." He stated calmly. He looked up at the expressionless visage of his rescuer. "Well, thank you for catching me...I think. Can we go home now?"
Minutes later, the two Cainites were in the sewars Seldes had discovered and heading back to the factory.
"I mean it, you know." Seldes said, slightly breathless, as he tried to keep pace with his partner. Walking on your hands was not an easy business when your shoulder had just been twisted out of place. "Thank you. You probably saved my life. Just about anything on the ground could have been used as stake, and if I had fallen-which I was going to, I'm not all that coordinated, obviously...." Seldes voice trailed off. He knew he was babbling. A sure sign that he had actually been scared. But as soon as he stopped speaking, his partner stopped dead ten feet ahead of him.
"I am quite aware of the potential dangers of that area." Sharma said with absolutely no expression, not facing Seldes. "And I am also aware of your shortcomings as a warrior." The Nosferatu flinched, but he knew full well it was the truth. "Which is why," Sharma continued, "that particular reconnasissance mission was assingned to me."
Seldes just about fell over. "Yes, Sharma, it WAS assigned to you!" he gasped, throughly exasperated. "But if you're just going to sit there and polish your SWORD and not tell anybody what you discovered on that mission, your reconnaissance is no good to anybody! Now as I said before, I know you're used to working alone, but surely you understand the need for cooperation! Does it really matter that much that I'm not a-"
"Stop." Sharma calmly but firmly cut him off. "Stop scrutinizing me." She turned to face Seldes at last.
"I don't need you to tell me what my motivations, beliefs, and understandings are. You think you understand and interpret others so well. You know nothing of my life or unlife. You know nothing of ME. You do not understand me. You do not indentify with me. If you knew everyting there was to me, you would want nothing to do with me."
"That's not--"
"Do not contradict a statement when you have no knowledge of its source. Did I not just say you know nothing of me? How do you know what I am guilty of?" she paused. "Your clan is an amiable one, Nosferatu. But centuries as the brokers of information have given you the mistaken conviction that you know all. You do not." With that, the Assamite turned and continued down the catacombs.
"Sharma!" Seldes cried, hurrying to catch up to her. With much effort, he overtook the girl (who, luckily, had too much dignity to run from him) and scrambled in front of her, blocking her path.
She glared at him, but Seldes would not be stared down.
"Look, you're right. I don't know you. I don't know where you came from, I don't know what motivates you. I've tried to get to know you, Sharma. But you won't let me. It seems like you're hiding behind every Assamite sterotype ever created. Why is that? I've been trying to figure it out ever since I met you. Why don't you want anyone to know you? Do you think everyone will hate you?"
You don't know me, either. You seem to think I'm a lot more innocent than I actually am. You think I haven't seen the worst of what people can do, kine and Kindred alike?"
Listen, like it or not, you and I are stuck with each other. We are going to have to at least understand each other, if not actually know one another."
Sharma let her head drop forward in a gesture of resignation. Maybe know they could at least talk, or so Seldes hoped.
"So?" he prodded.
"So...." the Assamite echoed after a moment's pause. Unexpectedly, she dropped down into a squat thart brought her almost eye level with the Nosferatu.
"You say you have been trying to 'figure me out' ever since we met.."
Seldes nodded slowly.
"Stop." she said simply. "Trying to 'figure' your partner out is no way to begin such a relationship. First, learn your partner's skills, strengths, and weaknesses in battle and tactics." she stood.
"A deeper understanding will come." she finished, and slowly walked around Seldes and further down the sewar.
Seldes remained where he was for a few moments, utterly speechless for the first time in his life. Lucky you, Seldes. A voice int he back of his mind said. You've just been given a glimpse of Assamite teamwork strategy.
He shook his head is fascination. Sharma was quite a.....girl, woman, Assamite, Kindred, moving organism....whatever she was. He resolved to play this game her way. For the time being. She would have to learn his way eventually. But as she said, a deeper understanding would come.
He scuttled down the dark caves after her.