Disclaimer: Well here I am, back at last with a new chapter to 'Here be Dragons'. I'm very happy to hear how everyone is enjoying it so far and for those who were wondering but didn't say, you will see more dragons soon. Don't own everything, as you've probably guessed by now. Here are the shout outs;
Angharad:- Yes, guilt is something Skinner is feeling when ever he thinks of Tom, hence drinking. As for the mothering landlady... well, I don't want to spoil the plot, but yes, she still has a part to play and we will see her again. As for Allan, no he's not coming back, you'll see why later.
Clez:- I'll take that to mean you like it so far ;)
funyun:- Ah, you have to wait for the chapter when we see the main dragon to find out what they have to do with the plot.
Scifi Kane:- Flying monkeys? I love flying monkeys! probably defeats the purpose of your threat heh? Glad you enjoy it so far.
Rini Skinner-Jekyll:- As you command :D
Sawyer Fan:- Sorry, that is classified under "writer's secret intention", but you will find out some time, I promise. And you keep believing Tom's alive if you want. ::Huge smile::
Niani:- I have plenty of Skinner torture lined up, but it's still a few chapters away, but it will be worth the wait, I promise.
Funky In Fishnet:- ah, glad to see you've noticed the build up. Let's hope the the first actual clash lives up to the build up.
Raven Silvers:- Skinner fangirls? After everything I did to Tom, you threaten me with Skinner fangirls... okay, that's still pretty scary. Here is your update.
The Lady Thief:- Well, Mina's coming to snap him out of it... let's just hope she doesn't snap him.
Marcus Lazarus:- Why thank you Marcus. About the trap.. well, you'll have to wait and see, but that certain plot point gets – mostly – cleared up in a few chapters time. But it's not who you suggested. You have good reason to worry about Jekyll and the killing Tom, yes I did have a very good reason. I had a few in fact.
Queerquail:- Thank you.
Lady Lilrin:- That little dragon is going to be lots of trouble, believe you me :D Ohh, you get kinder and kinder in your gifts!
And now, with out any further ado I give you...
Here Be Dragons
Chapter 3:- Ghostly Day
Nemo slipped into the room, nodding respectively at the man who stood guard outside the doors that led to the inner chamber. The man stared impassibly back at Nemo.
"You have not been here for a while." He said calmly. "The Lady said you would visit this night. She is expecting you." He took a step to the right, opening the door for Nemo to step threw. The Captain walked through, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as always.
The inner room was much as he remembered, from all those years ago. Smoke from incense and candles filled the room with a wide mix of scents. Drapes obscured Nemo's view further and his hand tightened on the hilt. A low laugh came from the back of the room.
"Well really, you don't need that... 'Nemo' isn't it now? It is quite sad that you learned to fear and mistrust everything." The female voice seemed amused and Nemo moved through the room, to where an old woman sat, her skin wrinkled through age. She gestured for him to move forward and sit.
"It is good to see you again." Nemo told her. She laughed, her teeth yellowed by smoking.
"You've not seen the need to visit me for years 'Nemo', why now?" She asked in a mocking tone. Nemo forced his hand away from the sword and stared proudly back at her.
"You know everything that happens Yogini, in this world and the next. You know why I am here." Nemo answered. Yogini laughed.
"You did not ask for my advice when you cursed the English or when you joined that League. Yet, now, you come to me..." She regarded him for a long time. "Do you still hate the English?" She asked, her voice abrupt. Nemo considered her question for a while, knowing that his answer was the most important part of this conversation so far.
"I hate what the English stand for... there are some good English, I have met them." He said at last. Yogini pressed her hands together, looking out of the curtain covered window to where a pale moon shone.
"Then why are you still here? You have already decided to help her. Go, the telegram does not lie, they are in great danger." She said. Nemo blinked then nodded, standing up. He knew that he would get nothing more from the wise Indian. On that matter though, he was wrong. As he reached the door her voice called out, halting him.
"Dakkar! Your anger against the British will destroy any chance you have of saving more than you know. It sometimes takes the stronger man to forgive." She said, using a name Nemo had not heard in a long time. Yogini carried on.
"Anger destroys, it does not create. Now, go Nemo and don't you disappoint me."
---
Night had fully fallen by the time the train pulled up in London. It had been delayed some hours when a cow had wandered onto the line, before becoming scared by the sound of the nearing engine and freezing. No amount of encouragement from the farmer could get the cow to move from the tracks. Pulling it had not worked either, as the cow had dug it's hooves into the soil between the wood, mooing loudly in protest.
It was not the only thing to protest. Angry passenger's has climbed down from their compartments and demanded to know why there was a hold up. Some of the richer passengers had suggested killing the animal and having it's body dragged off but the farmer had protested, even when they offered to buy him a new cow. The augments raged on, and through it all the cow continued to stand there, bending it's head every now and then to pull up some of the sweet grass it had found by the side of the tracks. Contented, it chewed, having no desire to move for several more hours.
Mina silently slipped from her compartment, moving along the length of the train to where the cow stood. From the shadow cast from the engine she watched it for a few moments, letting the red bleed into her eyes. The cow's head jerked up from where it had been grazing, wide, brown eyes staring at Mina. It knew a predator when it saw it, even the most domesticated and mindless animal still retained the ability to sense a predator. Mina smiled coldly at the cow, her fangs extending.
"Mooo!" The cow made an extremely loud and terrified noise as it bolted away from Mina and the track. Satisfied, Mina willed the Vampire traits away from her face and she slunk back to her compartment, closing the train door gently behind her.
But that had been in the afternoon and now it was night. She swept out of the train station, her small valise held in her gloved hand. It was time to pay a visit to Dr. Jekyll... but maybe she should wait till the morning, after all, he was not likely to be working during the night... was he?
---
Skinner stumbled out of the third bar in a row, muttering angry curses about bartenders. By now he should have been so drunk he wouldn't have cared about being thrown out. For some reason though, tonight he couldn't seem to get drunk enough to forget everything about his life. Skinner longed for the blissful darkness that only the numbing effect of alcohol could bring.
"And it's starting to rain again!?" He wailed, looking up at the sky, where large raindrops were starting to fall. Skinner looked down just in time to see a shoulder connect with his own as he walked into someone walking the other direction.
"Sorry..." The person muttered, looking at Skinner for a second before walking on. Skinner barely registered either the apologise or the look, but something about the voice had stirred a memory deep inside Skinner. It nagged at him and he stopped suddenly, his mind working overdrive, the cobwebs blown away. That voice... male... with a slight American accent... he knew that voice... and the face... a flash of blond hair and green eyes...
"Sa-sawyer?" He stammered, spinning around to look for the figure. Turning the corner, the man was briefly illuminated by the moon. Skinner blinked in disbelief, he could have sworn...
"Hey! You, wait!" Skinner called out, running after the man. His legs ached in protest at this sudden excise but he ignored them, skidding around the corner in time to see the man speed up, almost running away. Skinner ran after him, cursing for the first time the amount of booze he had been drinking.
"Hey!" Skinner yelled again, as he slowly began to gain on the blond haired figure. The person didn't slow down or look behind him as he ran round another corner. Skinner was only a few steps behind him by now and he was confident he could catch whoever it was. He turned the corner, seeing the man now only a step or two in front of him. Skinner reached out, catching the man by the left shoulder.
"I'm talking to you!" He snapped, spinning the man around. A stranger stared back at him, green eyes narrowed in anger.
"What the hell do you want from he?" The man asked. Skinner let go of his shoulder, stumbling backwards in shock. He had been so sure... Skinner could have sworn... the man seemed to be getting a little uncomfortable under Skinner's stare and noticed the greasepaint for the first time.
"Look, I don't have any money..." He muttered, giving Skinner one last look before running. Skinner let him go, a stunned look remaining on his face. His hands reached for the bottle in his long coat without even thinking about it. With shaking limbs he pulled the bottle free and stared at it, as if it was some foreign object.
Snarling, he threw the bottle as hard as he could against a brick wall. If drinking would conjure up painful images like that, then maybe Skinner didn't want to drink any more... at least for the moment.
From the safety of the roof, the same blue dragon that had watched Mina on her journey now spied on Skinner, it's tiny jaws snapping together in disgust. It's Master and Mistress would not be pleased by this turn of events. A puff of smoke came from it's nostrils and it's liquid gold eyes watched every move Skinner made. No, this was not what they wanted... plans might have to brought forward due to this turn of events.
---
Mina stared pensively up at the lighted window. It seemed that Dr. Jekyll was working late after all. The large building loomed above her, with the set of rooms belonging to Jekyll being the only lit up. She continued to gaze up at the light, her eyes narrowed. Mina remained frozen in position, every fibre of her body tense as she stood... and waited.
The minutes ticked by but she didn't move, except for a fast blink every now and then. The moon floated out from behind a cloud, the silver rays making the surrounding area light up. The sudden brightness blinded her for a moment and she blinked, trying to adjust her eyes. At the same time a shadow fluttered across the middle lighted window. Mina's eyes adjusted to the new light just in time to catch a glimpse of the slim shadow.
Well, someone is there at least... she lowered her gaze and quickly walked to the entrance of the brick building. Her heels sounded loud in the almost eerie silence as she climbed the few steps. There was no door bell that she could see and when she pushed on the door it refused to move. Mina knocked lightly and then waited.
At the furthest away lit room a shadow appeared and stared down at the female vampire. It watched her as she knocked again and chucked horsely.
"Well, well..." It muttered. From her position on the ground, Mina seemed to sense she was being watched and her head snapped up, staring at the empty lit window which a moment ago – unknown to her – had held a shadowy figure. Mina's icy blue eyes gazed at the window before lowering. A low breeze sprung up as she descended the steps, the cold wind tugging at her neat hair.
"If you are not going to open this door and come to me Dr. Jekyll then I will have no choice but to come up to you." Mina announced, her hands on her hips as she gazed up at Jekyll's rooms. She was positive that the shy doctor knew she was down here and while she could understand his reluctance to talk to her, she couldn't understand why he would ignore a guest, any guest. It was not something a gentleman would do and when she knew Jekyll he had always strived to be a gentleman.
Mina closed her eyes and her hair sprung loose, pulled this way and that by the wind. Her widower hat went flying, the black veil vanishing far into the cloudy sky. The female half vampire noticed none of this however as she called to her bats, feeling their leathery wings beat against her skin for the briefest of seconds – and then she was the bats. Mina screeched as they did, she felt the air as they did, she saw as they did. The swarm of bats centred on the middle window, slipping in through the slight gap caused by a slightly open window.
She reformed back into human shape just inside the window, her senses on high alert. The room itself was typical of a scientist and Mina took a small comfort in some of the things she could see, reassured by the familiar items. A small bunson burner stood in the middle of one of the table's, a glass bottle suspended above it, the blue flame warming it. Mina stepped towards the experiment, peering at the yellow liquid inside the bottle. An open journal lay by the experiment, the writing inside stopping mid-sentence. The fountain-pen was resting on the page, the lid missing. It was all very fresh, very recent.
There was a faint sound behind Mina, of a door opening. She spun, not sure what to expect, Dr. Jekyll, Hyde perhaps? Instead she was faced with a slim young women, her blond hair cascading down her back. There was determined look on her face as she stared at Mina, a rifle of some sort pointed squarely at Mina's chest.
To Be Continued...
Hope everyone liked that part, check back soon for the next part.
- Sethoz