Sonny tapped his fingers impatiently on the arm of his chair. Sunset was
less than a minute away, and he wanted to get this night over with. He
didn't often feed heavily on humans, but he'd spent several hours the night
before stocking up on blood, just in case Caine decided to get hostile.
Waiting for the action was almost as bad, though. A dreadful anticipation
was filling him. He had a feeling that surviving the upcoming night would
be an achievment in itself.
A frantic hammering at his front door broke Sonny from his thoughts. Grabbing his phosphorus gun, even though there remained the last of the daylight in the sky, he opened his door carefully, only to have Frank barge in, rambling and ranting.
"Sonny! Where the hell have you been? I met him! He had me by the..."
"Frank! Frank, calm down! What's wrong!"
Frank shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "I met him, Sonny."
"Who, Frank?"
"Caine! Who'd you think?!"
Sonny's eyes shot open. His mortal partner had run into Caine and survived? "What happened?"
"He's a damn monster! One sec I was pointing my gun at him, the next I'm in a heap on the floor! I've never seen one of you guys move so fast!"
"What did he do?"
"Beat the crap out of me, that's what!" Frank pulled up his top, revealing some very ugly bruises. "I got the impression that he could have done a lot worse, but he told me to go see Luna and warn him not to cross him."
"Great." Sonny sighed. "Look, Frank. Maybe it's not such a good idea for you to come tonight..."
"No way, Sonny. If this creep starts tearing up the city, I want to be there to stop him. Even if he'd brush me away like a fly, I at least want to try!"
"Alright. Julian said you could be there, so you'll be there. But for crying out loud, don't go running up to Caine! We don't need him blasting you into pieces."
Frank nodded. "Trust me, that's one thing I'm dead clear on."
***
Some distance away, Cameron was walking out of his home with his group of personal bodyguards. Normally, his entourage would have followed him in silence, but there was an air of unease tonight. Cameron couldn't really say he was suprised. He wasn't all that happy about the situation himself.
"So what are we going to do, sir?" One guard asked about Caine.
"Look, I know that if any normal Cainite killed a couple of our guys we'd be dancing on his grave right now. But this isn't a normal Vampire. Screw the vengeance factor. We do whatever we can to get Caine out of our city and our lives. If Luna can talk the guy away, more power to him. If, and only if, it comes down to a fight, then we pile in on him with everything we've got. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good. Come on, let's get going. I'll feel better on the streets when those two monsters are just a memory."
Following the lead of their primogen, the guards turned into a side alley that would lead to the back of the Haven.
***
Two hours later, Kain and Raziel were seated in the back of a limo with a small gang of Gangrel and Ventrue eyeing them suspiciously. Kain had adopted a human disguise, though Raziel of course remained in his disfigured state. Raziel had to admit to himself that he was jealous. There was very little he wouldn't exchange for the ability to appear in another form, human of Vampire. He looked sadly down at the remains of his body. Even knowing what he knew know, he still resented Kain's decision to have him cast into that watery hell. Surely Kain could have achieved his goals and left Raziel intact? Of course, Kain wasn't really the most sympathetic being that had ever lived. If it had been the best chocie from his point of view, he'd have had little trouble in his decision to execute Raziel.
Kain's thoughts were on the situation at hand. Though this was his best chance to return to Nosgoth, there was no guarantee that Luna had the capabilities to do such a thing. And even if he did, Kain would have to force the Prince to send him. He wondered just what Azimuth and Moebius had intended when sending him to this world. Did they believe they'd seen the last of Kain, or were they setting up defences to block a possible return?
Kain suddenly sat bolt upright. The Vampires all pulled out their weapons and pointed them at him, but Kain wasn't paying them any attention. He was staring out the window at the city.
"Kain? What is it?"
Kain stared at the night sky. 'What was that? I felt...something...' Sinking back into his seat, Kain simply said "Be wary, Raziel.", leaving a confused Reaver of Souls and some near-frantic Vampires.
Twenty minutes later, the limo arrived at the front of the Haven. Kain adopted a Disguise. It wasn't the Beguile spell he had used to scout the Haven before - he wasn't prepared to to reveal that he was "Magnus", at least not yet. Instead he assumed a simple visual disguise, one that would fool most humans, though Vampires would sense his true nature with little problem.
Cash was waiting to guide Kain into the Haven. However, he first looked towards Raziel.
"My Prince requests that your servant stays in the cellar with the Nosferatu Primogen, Caine. The Masquerade, you understand."
Raziel growled angrily. Kain smirked.
"Well, my faithful servant? You heard the man."
Raziel followed a waiting Gangrel towards a secluded entrance to the lower floor of the building, muttering several choice curses aimed at Kain, Cash, and life in general. Cash nodded, and led Kain inside.
***
Luna looked at the Vampire who called himself Caine. Visually, he looked like a typical human, maybe even less than that. But Luna's reign as Prince wouldn't have lasted a week if he relied on surface impressions. His senses told him that Kain was hiding his true nature, and if he was correct, deliberately not doing a great job of it. Luna couldn't imagine why, but from what he knew of the monster's nature, he guessed Caine was taunting him.
The meeting did not go unnoticed. Luna knew that Sonny and Frank were present, and hoped to hell that Frank didn't do anything stupid with Caine around. However, he didn't notice two other figures watching from a table near the back of the club. Avid and Tenor just sat there, waiting for something to happen.
Luna kept up the polite but firm appearance that the Ventrue did so well. He and Cash took Caine to the Council Chamber, where Luna tried to introduce the Primogens.
"You already know Cash. This is the Toreador Prim..."
"Lillie, I know. May we dispense with the introductions and move on to more pressing business?"
Neither Lillie nor Luna flinched at this, but inside, both were alarmed at Caine's comment. How did Caine know who Lillie was? Had he somehow already infiltrated the Haven before the meeting, or could he simply read minds? Neither option seemed particularly welcoming.
While Caine enjoyed Lillie's hidden discomfort, Luna whispered to Cash in a voice so quiet that even the Gangrel's incredible hearing could only just pick it up.
"Where the hell is Cameron?"
As if summoned, Cameron strode into the chamber. Luna gave him a dark look, but decided to wait another time to have yet another argument with the Brujah Primogen. The Vampires sat at the table.
"Very well, Caine." Luna said. "As you wish to attend to business, we'll come to the point. Why are you in my city?"
"Circumstance."
There was a pause.
"I would appreciate a little more detail."
"I'm sure you would."
Luna forced his fist to unclench. Though he'd only met Caine minutes before, the over-powered newcomer was already starting to annoy him. "And those details would be..?"
"My business."
"Fine. Perhaps you'll be more forthcoming to this question - what is it you want?"
***
At the back of the Haven, the Sabbat Vampires were hiding, waiting for their distraction eagerly.
"How long?"
"Geez, give the bloodbag a minute! He's only human, y'know!"
Franklin grinned. "Yeah, so he's probably got lost, the sucker!"
Lola shook her head. "No way. After that half hour with me, there's no way in hell he'd get anything I said worng. If I told him to, he'd grow wings and ly now!"
Cass smiled. "No doubt. Get ready, people. We're going to have some fun tonight!"
***
Raziel paced around in the cellar as Daedalus watched him from his chair. The Nosferatu noted that Raziel seemed impatient and angry in a superficial way. Most likely he wanted to know how the meeting was going, a feeling that Daedalus could sympathise with.
"Tell me, Raziel. Is Caine the sort of Vampire who dances around his subject, or does he come straight to the point?"
"Both. He can demand straight and short statements, or he can stretch a conversation with a limitless torrent of metaphor and digression. It truly depends on his whim at the time."
"You make Caine sound somewhat unstable."
"An understatement. He is a resounding pessimist, yet he gambles on the remotest of odds."
"He seeks passage back to this Nosgoth, so you say. What is his reaction likely to be when he discovers that my Prince can not provide him with this?"
"I'm sure Kain suspects that Luna lacks the ability to send us home. He has been less than impressed by the Vampires in his employ to date. But he will try to make Luna point the way to those with such power. If your Prince can not or will not do this, Kain's next action is impossible to predict. But it is unlikely to be to your benefit. He would think nothing of slaughtering every Vampire in the city if he thought it would bring him..."
At that moment, there was a loud crash from upstairs, and the sounds of people shouting and fighting.
"Oh damn." said Daedalus.
Raziel sighed. "I get the feeling the meeting has concluded.
***
Only moments before, Luna had been verbally sparring with Caine. The other Primogens had been patiently watching the scene, and warily waiting for a sign of aggression from Caine.
Cameron slowly drew the phosphorus pistol from his hip pocket. Kain's guard was down. A shot with this weapon now, followed by a quick shot to the head. Kain would be crippled, and easy pickings for...
This was the moment that the building was rocked by the crash. All the Vampires were immediately on their feet.
"CAINE!!!" Luna roared. "What have you done?!"
Caine glowered. "This is not my doing, Luna! Those weapon shots sound like your people's weapons, not my own or Raziel's!"
Luna paused. He could here gunshots, true. But if not Caine, then what was happening? "Come on, we'd better find out what on Earth is happening!"
Luna fled out of the room, followed by the Primogens and Caine. Cameron paused for a moment.
"Interesting." he said in a dark, ugly voice. "Perhaps my chance has arrived..."
***
In the main club area, Sonny and Frank had taken cover behind a fallen table with two other Vampires, and were attempting to take down the attackers. A fair amount of the security that Luna had insisted on had already fallen. The crash had been a van smashing through the front entrance of the Haven. Everyone present had started towards the van, weapons drawn. But the van was only driven by a lone human, probably dominated, and definately killed by the impact. The real attack had come a moment later. A group of Vampires had burst in from the back. The first round of fire had decimated the gathering, and the club quickly became a battleground.
"Who is it, Sonny?" Frank yelled. "Caine?!"
"No! I don't believe this...it's the freaking Sabbat!"
"Who?!"
"Psychos! I'll tell you later! Right now, just shoot!"
Avid barely ducked a phosphorus shot. "There really are Sabbat in the city? This place really has gone to hell..."
Sonny glared at Avid. "Sorry to ruin your vacation, whoever you are! Perhaps you'd prefer it in Lupine country!"
The table was suddenly split in two by a bizzare attack, like a solid shadow.
"Dammit! Lasombra!"
Frank felt a sudden vice-like grip around his throat as the thing caught him. For what seemed like the fourth time this month, his life flashed before his eyes. Then there was a bright flash of light. The pain disappeared, and he found himself on all fours, his saviour a decrepit- looking creature with a large glowing sword coming out of his arm.
"Wh...what the hell...?"
"Stay down, human!" Raziel yelled. He fired a projectile from the Light Reaver which momentarily cleared the area. He was suddenly joined by Luna and Kain.
"Raziel! What happened here?"
"I thought it was you, Kain! Are you saying that chaos breaks loose and it ISN'T your fault?"
Luna fired at a leering Nosferatu on the other side of the floor. "It's the Sabbat! A group of..."
"The Sabbat? Again?" Kain chuckled. "They should have learned their lesson before."
In all the chaos, Kain did not sense someone creeping up on him until the first shot slammed into the small of his back. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain and span around. He saw Cameron with a phosphorus pistol pointing at him. But the Brujah didn't get a chance to fire again. As Kain had sunk to one knee, a bullet whizzed over his head and into Cameron's hand. Cameron barely flinched, didn't even drop the gun, but it was all Kain needed to jump to action.
"VAE VICTUS!" With the battle-cry dating back to his human years, Kain leaped forward and thrust a claw into Cameron's heart, then pulled the organ out. Not even bothering to watch Cameron die, Kain turned and grabbed Luna by the throat.
"Did you think you could set ME up, Luna?!"
Luna gasped. "This wasn't me! I...what the..?"
The pandemonium ceased in an instant. All eyes were on Cameron's body. It wasn't falling to the floor as it should have been. Instead, it was clawing, spasming...transforming. In a few seconds, it resembled neither a human nor a Vampire. It was twice as tall as the tallest person in the club, horned and black-furred.
"A Demon?" Raziel cried. "Here?"
"Not just a Demon, Raziel." Kain muttered.
The Demon laughed. "I have never met you in person before, Kain, but I know you recognise me. You have Moebius to thank. He showed me a vision of my future, and offered me some pre-emptive revenge."
Kain growled. Raziel had rarely seen him appear so angry. "You are either brave or insane to face me like this. If you have seen your future, you know that I am your end as a mere fledgling. Surely you harbour no illusion of defeating me now, when I am so much stronger?"
"In the most important respect, you have not changed a bit, Kain. You still fail to see the bigger picture. You are a pawn, as I will tell you in your past. And a pawn's fate is to be sacrificed."
"Then come and make your move!"
The Demon laughed. "I shall...when I am ready!" With that, he vansihed into thin air.
"Raziel!" Kain urged. "Follow him, quickly!"
Raziel disappeared into the Spectral Plane. When he returned barely a second later, you could be forgiven for thinking that some unseen force had repelled him. Kain knew that time was much different in Raziel's natural plane, though, and didn't question it.
"The Demon has eluded me, Kain."
"Damn."
Luna stood eye-to-eye with Kain. "Alright, Caine. I want answers. Who the HELL was that?"
"You recognised him." Raziel pointed out. "And he mentioned Moebius."
"Yes..." Kain sighed. "An earlier version of an old enemy of mine, shown his fate by Moebius - like Moebius, to die at my hands. And just as Moebius intends, he wants to take revenge on me for his future demise."
"Who is he, Kain? In the centuries I have known you, you have never mentioned him."
Kain looked right at Raziel. "His name is Hash'Ak'Gik, Raziel, and it was he who corrupted the Pillars of Nosgoth."
A frantic hammering at his front door broke Sonny from his thoughts. Grabbing his phosphorus gun, even though there remained the last of the daylight in the sky, he opened his door carefully, only to have Frank barge in, rambling and ranting.
"Sonny! Where the hell have you been? I met him! He had me by the..."
"Frank! Frank, calm down! What's wrong!"
Frank shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "I met him, Sonny."
"Who, Frank?"
"Caine! Who'd you think?!"
Sonny's eyes shot open. His mortal partner had run into Caine and survived? "What happened?"
"He's a damn monster! One sec I was pointing my gun at him, the next I'm in a heap on the floor! I've never seen one of you guys move so fast!"
"What did he do?"
"Beat the crap out of me, that's what!" Frank pulled up his top, revealing some very ugly bruises. "I got the impression that he could have done a lot worse, but he told me to go see Luna and warn him not to cross him."
"Great." Sonny sighed. "Look, Frank. Maybe it's not such a good idea for you to come tonight..."
"No way, Sonny. If this creep starts tearing up the city, I want to be there to stop him. Even if he'd brush me away like a fly, I at least want to try!"
"Alright. Julian said you could be there, so you'll be there. But for crying out loud, don't go running up to Caine! We don't need him blasting you into pieces."
Frank nodded. "Trust me, that's one thing I'm dead clear on."
***
Some distance away, Cameron was walking out of his home with his group of personal bodyguards. Normally, his entourage would have followed him in silence, but there was an air of unease tonight. Cameron couldn't really say he was suprised. He wasn't all that happy about the situation himself.
"So what are we going to do, sir?" One guard asked about Caine.
"Look, I know that if any normal Cainite killed a couple of our guys we'd be dancing on his grave right now. But this isn't a normal Vampire. Screw the vengeance factor. We do whatever we can to get Caine out of our city and our lives. If Luna can talk the guy away, more power to him. If, and only if, it comes down to a fight, then we pile in on him with everything we've got. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good. Come on, let's get going. I'll feel better on the streets when those two monsters are just a memory."
Following the lead of their primogen, the guards turned into a side alley that would lead to the back of the Haven.
***
Two hours later, Kain and Raziel were seated in the back of a limo with a small gang of Gangrel and Ventrue eyeing them suspiciously. Kain had adopted a human disguise, though Raziel of course remained in his disfigured state. Raziel had to admit to himself that he was jealous. There was very little he wouldn't exchange for the ability to appear in another form, human of Vampire. He looked sadly down at the remains of his body. Even knowing what he knew know, he still resented Kain's decision to have him cast into that watery hell. Surely Kain could have achieved his goals and left Raziel intact? Of course, Kain wasn't really the most sympathetic being that had ever lived. If it had been the best chocie from his point of view, he'd have had little trouble in his decision to execute Raziel.
Kain's thoughts were on the situation at hand. Though this was his best chance to return to Nosgoth, there was no guarantee that Luna had the capabilities to do such a thing. And even if he did, Kain would have to force the Prince to send him. He wondered just what Azimuth and Moebius had intended when sending him to this world. Did they believe they'd seen the last of Kain, or were they setting up defences to block a possible return?
Kain suddenly sat bolt upright. The Vampires all pulled out their weapons and pointed them at him, but Kain wasn't paying them any attention. He was staring out the window at the city.
"Kain? What is it?"
Kain stared at the night sky. 'What was that? I felt...something...' Sinking back into his seat, Kain simply said "Be wary, Raziel.", leaving a confused Reaver of Souls and some near-frantic Vampires.
Twenty minutes later, the limo arrived at the front of the Haven. Kain adopted a Disguise. It wasn't the Beguile spell he had used to scout the Haven before - he wasn't prepared to to reveal that he was "Magnus", at least not yet. Instead he assumed a simple visual disguise, one that would fool most humans, though Vampires would sense his true nature with little problem.
Cash was waiting to guide Kain into the Haven. However, he first looked towards Raziel.
"My Prince requests that your servant stays in the cellar with the Nosferatu Primogen, Caine. The Masquerade, you understand."
Raziel growled angrily. Kain smirked.
"Well, my faithful servant? You heard the man."
Raziel followed a waiting Gangrel towards a secluded entrance to the lower floor of the building, muttering several choice curses aimed at Kain, Cash, and life in general. Cash nodded, and led Kain inside.
***
Luna looked at the Vampire who called himself Caine. Visually, he looked like a typical human, maybe even less than that. But Luna's reign as Prince wouldn't have lasted a week if he relied on surface impressions. His senses told him that Kain was hiding his true nature, and if he was correct, deliberately not doing a great job of it. Luna couldn't imagine why, but from what he knew of the monster's nature, he guessed Caine was taunting him.
The meeting did not go unnoticed. Luna knew that Sonny and Frank were present, and hoped to hell that Frank didn't do anything stupid with Caine around. However, he didn't notice two other figures watching from a table near the back of the club. Avid and Tenor just sat there, waiting for something to happen.
Luna kept up the polite but firm appearance that the Ventrue did so well. He and Cash took Caine to the Council Chamber, where Luna tried to introduce the Primogens.
"You already know Cash. This is the Toreador Prim..."
"Lillie, I know. May we dispense with the introductions and move on to more pressing business?"
Neither Lillie nor Luna flinched at this, but inside, both were alarmed at Caine's comment. How did Caine know who Lillie was? Had he somehow already infiltrated the Haven before the meeting, or could he simply read minds? Neither option seemed particularly welcoming.
While Caine enjoyed Lillie's hidden discomfort, Luna whispered to Cash in a voice so quiet that even the Gangrel's incredible hearing could only just pick it up.
"Where the hell is Cameron?"
As if summoned, Cameron strode into the chamber. Luna gave him a dark look, but decided to wait another time to have yet another argument with the Brujah Primogen. The Vampires sat at the table.
"Very well, Caine." Luna said. "As you wish to attend to business, we'll come to the point. Why are you in my city?"
"Circumstance."
There was a pause.
"I would appreciate a little more detail."
"I'm sure you would."
Luna forced his fist to unclench. Though he'd only met Caine minutes before, the over-powered newcomer was already starting to annoy him. "And those details would be..?"
"My business."
"Fine. Perhaps you'll be more forthcoming to this question - what is it you want?"
***
At the back of the Haven, the Sabbat Vampires were hiding, waiting for their distraction eagerly.
"How long?"
"Geez, give the bloodbag a minute! He's only human, y'know!"
Franklin grinned. "Yeah, so he's probably got lost, the sucker!"
Lola shook her head. "No way. After that half hour with me, there's no way in hell he'd get anything I said worng. If I told him to, he'd grow wings and ly now!"
Cass smiled. "No doubt. Get ready, people. We're going to have some fun tonight!"
***
Raziel paced around in the cellar as Daedalus watched him from his chair. The Nosferatu noted that Raziel seemed impatient and angry in a superficial way. Most likely he wanted to know how the meeting was going, a feeling that Daedalus could sympathise with.
"Tell me, Raziel. Is Caine the sort of Vampire who dances around his subject, or does he come straight to the point?"
"Both. He can demand straight and short statements, or he can stretch a conversation with a limitless torrent of metaphor and digression. It truly depends on his whim at the time."
"You make Caine sound somewhat unstable."
"An understatement. He is a resounding pessimist, yet he gambles on the remotest of odds."
"He seeks passage back to this Nosgoth, so you say. What is his reaction likely to be when he discovers that my Prince can not provide him with this?"
"I'm sure Kain suspects that Luna lacks the ability to send us home. He has been less than impressed by the Vampires in his employ to date. But he will try to make Luna point the way to those with such power. If your Prince can not or will not do this, Kain's next action is impossible to predict. But it is unlikely to be to your benefit. He would think nothing of slaughtering every Vampire in the city if he thought it would bring him..."
At that moment, there was a loud crash from upstairs, and the sounds of people shouting and fighting.
"Oh damn." said Daedalus.
Raziel sighed. "I get the feeling the meeting has concluded.
***
Only moments before, Luna had been verbally sparring with Caine. The other Primogens had been patiently watching the scene, and warily waiting for a sign of aggression from Caine.
Cameron slowly drew the phosphorus pistol from his hip pocket. Kain's guard was down. A shot with this weapon now, followed by a quick shot to the head. Kain would be crippled, and easy pickings for...
This was the moment that the building was rocked by the crash. All the Vampires were immediately on their feet.
"CAINE!!!" Luna roared. "What have you done?!"
Caine glowered. "This is not my doing, Luna! Those weapon shots sound like your people's weapons, not my own or Raziel's!"
Luna paused. He could here gunshots, true. But if not Caine, then what was happening? "Come on, we'd better find out what on Earth is happening!"
Luna fled out of the room, followed by the Primogens and Caine. Cameron paused for a moment.
"Interesting." he said in a dark, ugly voice. "Perhaps my chance has arrived..."
***
In the main club area, Sonny and Frank had taken cover behind a fallen table with two other Vampires, and were attempting to take down the attackers. A fair amount of the security that Luna had insisted on had already fallen. The crash had been a van smashing through the front entrance of the Haven. Everyone present had started towards the van, weapons drawn. But the van was only driven by a lone human, probably dominated, and definately killed by the impact. The real attack had come a moment later. A group of Vampires had burst in from the back. The first round of fire had decimated the gathering, and the club quickly became a battleground.
"Who is it, Sonny?" Frank yelled. "Caine?!"
"No! I don't believe this...it's the freaking Sabbat!"
"Who?!"
"Psychos! I'll tell you later! Right now, just shoot!"
Avid barely ducked a phosphorus shot. "There really are Sabbat in the city? This place really has gone to hell..."
Sonny glared at Avid. "Sorry to ruin your vacation, whoever you are! Perhaps you'd prefer it in Lupine country!"
The table was suddenly split in two by a bizzare attack, like a solid shadow.
"Dammit! Lasombra!"
Frank felt a sudden vice-like grip around his throat as the thing caught him. For what seemed like the fourth time this month, his life flashed before his eyes. Then there was a bright flash of light. The pain disappeared, and he found himself on all fours, his saviour a decrepit- looking creature with a large glowing sword coming out of his arm.
"Wh...what the hell...?"
"Stay down, human!" Raziel yelled. He fired a projectile from the Light Reaver which momentarily cleared the area. He was suddenly joined by Luna and Kain.
"Raziel! What happened here?"
"I thought it was you, Kain! Are you saying that chaos breaks loose and it ISN'T your fault?"
Luna fired at a leering Nosferatu on the other side of the floor. "It's the Sabbat! A group of..."
"The Sabbat? Again?" Kain chuckled. "They should have learned their lesson before."
In all the chaos, Kain did not sense someone creeping up on him until the first shot slammed into the small of his back. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain and span around. He saw Cameron with a phosphorus pistol pointing at him. But the Brujah didn't get a chance to fire again. As Kain had sunk to one knee, a bullet whizzed over his head and into Cameron's hand. Cameron barely flinched, didn't even drop the gun, but it was all Kain needed to jump to action.
"VAE VICTUS!" With the battle-cry dating back to his human years, Kain leaped forward and thrust a claw into Cameron's heart, then pulled the organ out. Not even bothering to watch Cameron die, Kain turned and grabbed Luna by the throat.
"Did you think you could set ME up, Luna?!"
Luna gasped. "This wasn't me! I...what the..?"
The pandemonium ceased in an instant. All eyes were on Cameron's body. It wasn't falling to the floor as it should have been. Instead, it was clawing, spasming...transforming. In a few seconds, it resembled neither a human nor a Vampire. It was twice as tall as the tallest person in the club, horned and black-furred.
"A Demon?" Raziel cried. "Here?"
"Not just a Demon, Raziel." Kain muttered.
The Demon laughed. "I have never met you in person before, Kain, but I know you recognise me. You have Moebius to thank. He showed me a vision of my future, and offered me some pre-emptive revenge."
Kain growled. Raziel had rarely seen him appear so angry. "You are either brave or insane to face me like this. If you have seen your future, you know that I am your end as a mere fledgling. Surely you harbour no illusion of defeating me now, when I am so much stronger?"
"In the most important respect, you have not changed a bit, Kain. You still fail to see the bigger picture. You are a pawn, as I will tell you in your past. And a pawn's fate is to be sacrificed."
"Then come and make your move!"
The Demon laughed. "I shall...when I am ready!" With that, he vansihed into thin air.
"Raziel!" Kain urged. "Follow him, quickly!"
Raziel disappeared into the Spectral Plane. When he returned barely a second later, you could be forgiven for thinking that some unseen force had repelled him. Kain knew that time was much different in Raziel's natural plane, though, and didn't question it.
"The Demon has eluded me, Kain."
"Damn."
Luna stood eye-to-eye with Kain. "Alright, Caine. I want answers. Who the HELL was that?"
"You recognised him." Raziel pointed out. "And he mentioned Moebius."
"Yes..." Kain sighed. "An earlier version of an old enemy of mine, shown his fate by Moebius - like Moebius, to die at my hands. And just as Moebius intends, he wants to take revenge on me for his future demise."
"Who is he, Kain? In the centuries I have known you, you have never mentioned him."
Kain looked right at Raziel. "His name is Hash'Ak'Gik, Raziel, and it was he who corrupted the Pillars of Nosgoth."
