The first place I checked was Julius's house. It was a home on the west end of town. Julius was much more modern than I was, so his house was built in a very modern and stylish way. His house was very angular and boxy as was the furniture that matched on the inside. The decor was very minimal with only a scattering of seating, not enough to have any amount of company. The walls were a grayish blue color that lacked any personality and absolutely no pictures anywhere. The house was cold and dark. Since the sun fell, there was no warmth here anymore that the windows would bring in from the rays of sunlight during the day. Not as if he would need to use basic heating or cooling, or at least didn't need to until now.
I searched the entire house and did not find him. It looked as though someone had been here and I could smell their scent, but I couldn't tell if it was Julius or not. I assume his scent had changed now that he was human. He no longer smelled like one of my own, he smelled like food. It was hard to think of him like that, but that is exactly what he was now, food for the Vampyre's. "I need to find him, and quick," I muttered to myself as I went towards the rooms in the back of the house.
The bedroom had been ransacked as if someone was looking for something, or packing a lot of things. Perhaps Julius had been here and packed up his things and took off. Where to? The bedsheets were overturned and clothes were strung everywhere, on every inch of the floor lie a shirt or pants, sock or a shoe. If it wasn't Julius who did this, it was someone looking for something. Something specific.
My next trip was to the club. It would be just about opening time. Haggai should be there and I can ask him if he saw Julius come by this evening. It made me infinitely worried for him, how would his own minions react if he were to return here as a human? They would smell his delicious scent and then their mouths would water. There wouldn't be anything that Julius would be able to do in order to stop them. Plus, if stories were true, soon Julius would begin to age and time would eventually creep up on him.
"Master Silas, it has been a while. How are you?" Haggai's deep voice boomed as I greeted him at the door of the Down Under, Julius's nightclub that he was very proud of running.
"Not good, Haggai. Is there a place we can speak, privately?" I asked, looking around to see a few patrons that were enthralled with the Vampyre experience and brave enough to want to endure in it. for a Tuesday night, there was a bit of a line starting to form.
"Yes, come inside, I will be there shortly," Haggai opened the doors to the club and I stepped in. I heard him yelling at the miserable humans who attempted to follow me in. Enthralled they were. If I had some time, I might indulge just a bit, but not tonight. I had other pressing matters to attend to.
The club was as always, thumping and pumping full of deep and rhythmic music. Dancers crowded the floors and drinks flowed everywhere. For a weekday, it was a busy night. With the local colleges close by, many came here to partake in some dangerous activity. Seems most of the people who were open to the idea of other beings were the younger generations. Though they could be very gullible. We may now be out in the open, which I for one didn't think was such a great idea, but that didn't make us safe to be around. At least not the lot of us.
I walked up to the bar and ordered a drink, Crown Royal which isn't the dark liquor that most humans know, but a rich, thick bodied blood that most of us thirsted for. Made from the blood of Royal bloodlines from all over the world. Mine had to be aged to just the right number, around 5 or 10 AD. That's what I thirsted for, ancient blood. With blood came knowledge. That is why we thirst so badly, it is the knowledge held in the blood that we seek. That is the life force. Realistically, the one who holds the most knowledge is the most powerful.
"Good to see you, Silas," the bartender said as she put down my drink. I didn't even see her at first when I sat down as she was a long time friend of mine.
I smiled at her, "Good to see you as well, Lucretia. How is the modern life treating you?"
"Well. Though, not as sporty as my human life, but one must give up the delights of be a Domina," Lucretia answered seductively as she traced her fingertips along my hand. Her delicate, milky white skin was the same shade as it would have been when she was turned, and her blazing red hair wig that was curled into delicate knots on top with a few tendrils hanging down made her look even more refined as she was in the Roman Era. "Are you partaking in any delights tonight?"
"You are too kind, Lucretia, but no. I am here to see if Julius was in the club," I took my drink and sipped a bit before placing the glass back down on the bar. Lucretia was a Domina for a Linestae in a city just outside of Napoli. Julius and I found her as we were looting around common houses in search of nourishment. We often scoured around the Linestae's because they had an exceptionally pick of meals. Seems that Lucretia and her husband had fallen into some trouble with their slaves and they were attacked. Julius looked fondly upon Lucretia and saved her life. She was a merciless killer and one that Julius loved for several centuries.
"I have not seen him, though, when turned with blind eye, he may have entered on soft feet. Should I be offended that he did not welcome me as he entered?" Lucretia's voice seethed as you could hear the loathing in the back of her throat. Julius had left Lucretia to tend to another human that he became fond of, and then of course there was Anabelle, to which Lucretia was probably green with envy of.
"Master Silas," Haggai's voice loomed behind me. "To the office," he held out his hand as in a gesture for me to lead.
"To answer you, Lucretia, no, do not be offended, but I must part. It was wonderful to see you again," I nodded goodbyes to Lucretia and then left towards Julius's office which was in the far upper left corner of the nightclub with large windows to which he could look down upon his minions and guests, surveying his next prey. Lucretia was a newly acquired asset to the nightclub, one Julius had commanded to come work for him in exchange for board and protection, not that Lucretia really needed his protection because Lucretia was an animal when it came to fighting. I knew he only dragged her in because he wanted protection for the nightclub and knowing she was his child, she would have to do as commanded, no matter how much she hated him for it.
The office was just as dull and impersonally as Juilus's house. The single glass desk with the modern swivel chair and a single lamp in the corner. A glass bookcase with folders and documents, but no pictures or personal belongings. A very dull and sharp angled leather sofa sat on the opposite wall to which Haggai sat and I took Julius's chair at the desk, his laptop still closed on the desk top.
"Haggai, we have an issue," I started as I swiveled the chair to look out of the floor to ceiling length, blacked out windows which made it hard for people to see up into, but perfect for us to see out of.
Haggai readjusted how he was seating and placed his hands on his chin, listening in depth. "Yes, how can I help?"
"Julius has gone missing. I need your help to track him," I said, turning to look at Haggai, leaving out the part that he was now human and somehow had a completely different scent to him now.
"Master, his is your cousin, why do you need me?" Haggai asked.
"Because, you are the best tracker I have ever known. That is why Julius chose you as his child to begin with," I boasted.
"There is something wrong isn't there? I knew I felt something the other night, but I wasn't sure what it could be," Haggai asked.
"Yes, something is wrong and it's not anything I want to get out, do you understand? Especially to Lucretia. She may suspect something is wrong, but I do not want her to know the severity of it."
"Yes, Master Silas, I understand."
"Julius was bitten by a Werewolf. It has turned him human. He fled when he caught Anabelle and I together. I need to find him before he hurts himself or instigates the wrong person." I explained. It was mostly my fault that Julius ran out. If I had just held Ani off a bit more, had some more self control, then Julius wouldn't have been so roused and then leave. I could have kept him safe, I could have helped him find a way to be the person he was. Soon enough though, without help, he will surely die.
"Human? I was told a Werewolf bite was deadly," Haggai asked.
"Yes, it is. Mostly for your kind. But most importantly, think of how deadly it is to have a five thousand year old man, who was once a Vampyre, thrives to be a Vampyre, and is now a human. What do you think he would do?" I asked.
"If I was him, I would try to turn myself back," Haggai answered, "He is fleeing to find a solution to his...situation."
"Yes, I believe so. And we must find him," I instructed. "Have you seen him recently? Has he been in the club at all?"
"No, I have not. I would sense if he was close, but I feel nothing. Is the bond between maker and child broken?" Haggai questioned.
"I'm not sure. His bond with Anabelle has dulled, but not gone. I suppose it might be the same for you and Lucretia. It is still there, but very dull," I stated, still twisting in my chair, trying to think of where he could have gone, who he might talk to. Then it hit me and I smacked the table top in response to the light bulb that just went off in my head.
"What is it?" Haggai asked, started as he stood up anticipating someone to come running through the door of the office.
"Ilona," I muttered, feeling stupid that I hadn't thought of it before, "He's going to the Queen for answers. She is the only known survivor of the Werewolf curse."
"Shall I accompany you?" Haggai asked worriedly.
"No, take care of the club as if it was your own. We must keep everything sane and as normal as possible. If anyone asks about Julius or his disappearance, tell them you saw him recently and was fine. No one is to know of this. Understood?" I demanded.
"Yes, Master," Haggai bowed and left the room, presumably out to the door to continue his normal duties.
I walked towards the glass windows and peered down below. The swarms of people that populated the club and the feeders off into the darkness. Men against men, women with women, it was debauchery out there. This is the lifestyle that Julius has chosen. To swell in the delight of other's misfortunes and pleasures. He could see the whole floor from up here, even the floor was glass so there was no view that was obstructed. Though from the ground, it would just looked like a ordinary black box that hung in the air, little did they know that they were all being watched from above, like a giant security camera.
I walked over to the telephone on Julius's desk and pressed "9" for an outside line. Once I got the double beep to let me know that the line was secured, I dialed Ilona's number.