I wanted to paste the entire story in here. I've edited it here and there (No major changes, just inconsistencies and I changed a few spelling and grammar errors. It will also make things a lot easier to read without a zillion posts to go through before finally getting to the next chapter. I sort of wanted to make this the topic for reading the story. And the other topic for discussing it. I'm working on a next chapter now which is almost done and we're almost celebrating our five year anniversary. Huzzah)

I'm going to start working towards an end here and I hope you'll all share in, seeing as how it's almost been 5 years. Nice time to get back in the game I'd say.

Oh, I also edited the formatting in places and I took the liberty to give all of the chapters a title and remove two or three chapters from people that stopped writing.



(PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS TOPIC UNTIL ALL THE ROUNDS HAVE BEEN POSTED)


I'll post round 2 as soon as the editing is done. I want to overhaul my own chapter first.

Chapter 1: The watchman by SlaYo.

The once thriving village of Greenthorpe had fallen into despair long ago.
Abandoned factories surrounded it and now stood side by side as iron monuments to days long gone.
Reduced to a rustic village it lay on the edge of the Peddleburg region.
The families that had stayed behind after the depression some two hundred years ago led quiet lives, harvesting crops or taking care of their cattle. None of them were alive during the days when the charitable Lawrence Greenthorpe still occupied the old mansion just outside of town.
He had always been a warm and kind man and even though none of the villagers had known him in life, they all had a deep respect for him. The Peddleburg region would be nowhere today if not for the economic boost brought forth by him.
The luxuries in live might not have been as plentiful any more but the villagers were content with what they had.
There was food on their tables every day and their children had the opportunity to get proper education and room enough to play. Greenthorpe still had a very attractive town square in which the villagers took great pride.
During the days of warmth the fountain in the central would be turned on. It was a true sight to admire how the water would squirt feet into the air and gracefully trickled down into the round, marble basin below.
Many a romance had laid its foundation on the edge of this basin as the sun slowly set over the town hall with its tall bell tower, with 59 feet the highest structure in town.
The town hall had still kept its function even though the number of employees was now considerably less than in the days of yore. Several little shops were located around the square and every morning the delightful buzz of everyday life could be heard as the baker displayed his fresh loaves of bread and the grocer sold fresh fruits and vegetables harvested before on the fields just outside of town.
The town only had a single tavern named ´Hare and there´ and was the centre of social life, the place to be on birthdays, wedding parties and the like.
One such wedding celebration was taking place this very evening as two young lovers had vowed to spend their lives together.
The ´Hare and there´ was filled to the brim with rabbits dancing, eating, drinking and singing.
The tables that were pushed against the wall were filled with the most delicious and exotic treats to provide the guests with everything they desired.
In one corner sat four youngsters huddled close together wound up in what seemed a heated conversation.
"I tell you, there is nothing there." A slightly overweight, bespectacled youngster named Markie said quite steadfast.
The girl to his right, Lara, firmly shook her head.
"I cannot believe how anyone can be so naive." She crossed her arms in her trademark fashion.
The boy to her right pulled her ponytails and Lara gave him an angry look.
Tim was slender and the tallest of the four of them. "Watch out of the boogeyman will get you." He laughed and he tried to make a scary face that was funny if anything else.
He had been making fun of Lara ever since she brought up the 'Spectre of Greenthorpe mansion.' A nonsensical tale spread from parent to child about the ghost of Louie Greenthorpe who ate everyone who dared to enter the mansion. Louie was the late son of Lawrence and Audrey Greenthorpe born to them after the completion of the mansion and their permanent settlement in town.
He gave them many happy years until a terrible tragedy befell them and took their only child away from them. Audrey and Lawrence died shortly afterwards and with them did the flame that kept burned in the heart of the town.
Across from Lara sat her little sister who had been listening to what the others had been saying with big eyes. She could keep her tears back no longer and cried out for her mother who came rushing at her straight away.
"Have you boys been telling her ghost stories again? Do not think I will not tell your mother this time." The pleading of the boys did not help and they were grounded for the next two week and were to go straight home after school.
In class they had been talking about the mansion and they got excited over the prospect to enter the scary house, as children do. Two weeks later they were playing soccer in the field just outside of town next to the road that led to the mansion.
Markie got tired and took a rest underneath an apple tree looking at the mansion a short distance away.
Tim and he crossed eyes and with a boyish smirk they both got up and ran towards the mansion in silent agreement.

Tim stepped up to the front door after passing the old and creaky gate closely followed by Markie who started to question whether this was such a good idea after all.
He took the doorknob in his hand took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
"There is no such thing as ghosts." Tim whispered to himself.
"No, but if our mom's know we are here, they will kill us." Markie said and he knew he was right. His had told him not to go play near the house a hundred times and would be very upset.
He shuddered and left the thought for what it was as Tim pushed them door open and walked into the great hall ever so slowly, looking back at his friend over his shoulder one more time.
Fear in his eyes and excitement.
Tim gazed in awe at the many things that decorated this hall, paintings covered with the dust of ages. An old grandfather's clock, ticking away the seconds slowly, the once brown rug had now turned slightly yellow and a disgusting smell of urine filled his nose, a vase holding something that had once been flowers, was standing on a wooden table against the staircase that led to the first floor.
An ancient pirate treasure could not have pleased him as much as this old muck, he was in the house all the parents were afraid of. He and Markie were heroes.
Markie covered up his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his shirt, against the smell but alas it did not have much effect.
A rat quickly made its way out of the mansion, Markie and Tim got the eerie feeling that they should do the same as a gust of wind blew past them, but something kept them here.
They had come this far and they were not planning on letting the adventure and excitement end here, besides, ghost stories were for babies
A door creaked ahead of them and they quickly looked in the direction it was coming from, pale in the face, little drops of sweat found their way down the soft fur on their backs.
"What was that?' Whimpered Markie, grabbing Tim's wrist and squeezing it a little harder then he intended to.
'"Hey, that hurts." Tim said, getting his grip on reality back."It must have been another rat, look at this place; it looks like one huge rat cemetery."
To the sides of the halls lay small bones and carcasses, yet a path had been swept clean through the middle. As if someone or something still lived here.
"Boo. I'm coming to get you Markie." Tim laughed as his friend stood cowering and looking at the door.
The door had opened just enough for them to have a peek into the next room.
A grand piano with a surprisingly neat stool in front of it stood in the far corner.
Their curiosity got the better of them and they moved closer to the door, inside of the room they could see several beautiful paintings.
There was even one of a royal figure they could recognize as the late king Sazz, Eva's father, above a fireplace that looked like it had not been used for quite a while.
Tall curtains prevented too much light from falling into the room but a small ray of sunlight fell down on a shiny statue that looked as if it was made out of gold.
"Pirate treasure." Tim mumbled.
Markie, who had recovered his courage, slowly pushed the creaking door open but he could feel Tim tugging at his arm.
"Maybe we should not go in there." Tim looked quite nervous to Markie's surprise.
The door was opened but not by Markie. Someone had pulled it open from the inside of the room and the young boys stood face to face with a tall and unhealthy looking rabbit who gave a dry cough as he noticed his two young guests. The two boys screamed at the top of their lungs as they peered into the hollows eyes and ran for it.
Tim almost stumbled over the smelly, yellow carpet as he made his way for the door. Markie jumped off of the marble stairs and rolled through the grass.
"It's alive!" Markie screamed and he cried as his little heart raced in his body.
The unhealthy looking, purple-furred rabbit looked after them as they stumbled out of the front gate.

The children arrived at an old tree near the Peddleburg creek and sat down, out of breath, Markie a little more than the slender Tim.
Markie sat down on his knees next to the river and put his hands together to make a little cup, he took some of the clear water and rubbed it trough his furry face.
Both of the children did not speak a word to each other for another hour, the sky over their heads was getting darker but they felt safe here, so close to the village.
A woman came walking towards them and they straightened themselves out to look presentable.
In silent agreement they decided it was best if no one ever knew about their endeavor. 'They would think we were crazy.' Markie thought to himself.

Newcomers in town always drew much attention as Marjorie Simms found out while she walked through the square and sat down on the edge of the fountain.
Gossiping neighbors quickly turned their heads away when her eyes found them and pretended to be talking about anything but her.
Majo, as most people called her, was used to this coming from a small village herself. She was born in Orangelia a town to the west with a population of approximately a hundred and fifty inhabitants and started wandering the world at the age of nineteen. Her late father who was a traveling jeweler had left her with a smart sum of money to get her started.
After nineteen years in a quiet town she wanted to see everything there was to see on this world and as a child she had often dreamed of visiting the places her father spoke of.
Majo had spend three years in Earian, the largest city on Carrotus with a population of nine and a half million.
Thanks to her charming looks and her positive attitude in life she had managed to find a decent job as a typist for one of the richer people in town who had provided her with a fancy apartment in Gathorich, the oldest and most luxurious neighborhood in town.
Earian lay by the sea and many people came and went, she was an outgoing person that enjoyed meeting new people and she could listen for hours when someone new would come in to the tavern she visited frequently and told a fantastic tale of hare and beast; and faraway lands.
After three years Majo found it was time to move on, she packed all of her belongings and quit her day job to travel, through the lands where she experienced the most fantastic things life had to offer.
Majo saw the sun rise over the mills of Pneum Arlik, bathed in the lake of Farodine which supposedly blessed anyone who entered it and was situated in the most beautiful green valley on the planet.
She toured through the mines of Aroroth and visited the underground castle which, as legend tells, had been home to a mythical creature named Bruhn.
Majo had been on her way to New Carrotus, the capital city and still had a long way to go when she crossed Greenthorpe, a village with a rich history and a majestic mansion long since abandoned that had sparked her interest. She stood up and bought a small bag of golden-colored Talsian pears before making her way there and seeing which parts of the legend were true.
According to an old hare she had met in a tavern outside of Orleton the village was haunted by a ghost from its own past often seen through the cracked windows of the mansion.
Majo left the village and made her way down the sandy path when she saw two boys resting in the grass.
"Don't go any further." Markie jumped up and blocked her path.
Majo smiled and decided she'd play along with what was obvious a little game they were playing. "And why would I not continue brave sir?"
She saw the fear in his face and in the face of the child still sitting in the grass and wondered if something else was going on.
"Are you two alright?" Her question remained unanswered for a few moments while the boys wondered if they could trust her.
Tim got up and walked over to Markie. 'She's not from around here, maybe we can tell her.' He whispered in his friends’ ear.
Markie nodded as he looked over the girl in front of him "There's a ghost in there, miss. We just saw him." He shuddered again at the thought.
Majo smiled and sank through her knees a little to level herself with the faces of the boys. "Tell you what, why don't I go in there to tell him to leave the innocent boys alone from now on."
Tim and Markie looked at each other, their mothers had only told them he eats children so they both figured the young woman had nothing to fear. They nodded in agreement.

Majo walked through the gate onto the path that led towards the mansion. The door stood open, as if the house was inviting her to come inside.
The gate creaked as she walked down the path. This might have scared the children leading them into believing the place was haunted.
She walked into the hallway and covered her nose with her sleeve, just as Markie had done before her.
Majo took a quick look around. The place was disgusting that was clear, a few dead rats here and there, but certainly no ghosts.
A sound in the room beyond drew her attention and she walked over into the drawing room, the windows let through little sunlight and darkness enveloped most of it.
Her imagination seemed to be running wild since it looked as if a person was sitting in the chair facing the windows.
"Hello, is someone there?" She asked against better judgment.
The person in the chair clutched the arm and leaned over the side to take a look at his visitor.
A tired man with deep, dark eyes stared at her for a moment and then sank back into the chair without speaking a word.
Majo´s heart positively raced in her throat over this other presence in the house and she ran back to the door leading outside, but as she reached it to take one last look she saw that the tired man was still sitting in his armchair facing the window. Piles of books surrounded him, coated in the dust of decades.
Majo slowly walked back. The man might be a traveler like her, he was pale and tired but there was no sign of him being either a ghost or monster.
"Are you alright, sir?" She asked cautiously and her hand touched the back of the chair.
As she gazed down at him another wave of dread ran through her body.
His shirt hung open, buttons ripped off rather violently. His skin as pale as a blanket of virgin snow and his eyes were blank, void of life.
"Sir?" She asked again but the man did not respond, he merely turned his empty eyes towards her and coughed. Majo looked around the room and noticed one door that stood ajar giving her a look into the bathroom beyond. She ran in there, turned on a rusty old faucet and filled a cup that stood on a shelf underneath the bathroom mirror with water. She ran back to the man and offered him the drink. "Take this, sir." He looked like he could use it.
But he held up his hand and politely refused. "Thank you miss, but I am not thirsty for water." His voice was so soft that she could hardly hear him. He got up out of his chair with what seemed like the weight of the world on his broad shoulders trying to hold him down.
The tired man took a few paces towards her, like an infant who just learned how to walk and fell down on his knees. "I think we need to see a doctor, sir. You are not well." But the man waved her comments away. "I will be fine miss, I always am, please take a seat and let me prepare something to eat for you, I must..." He coughed again and sat down on the floor.
Majo walked over to him still holding the glass of water. "Why don't you wait here while I go and get a doctor."
"No!" The man screamed as he managed to get up on his feet again. Majo took a step back color flushed over his body as he screamed but left right away turning him into the weak man he was before. "Trust me, this has happened before, I'll be fine." Majo took a seat and allowed him a moment to recover. The pale man walked into another room and left her waiting in here.
She drew open the curtains and thousands of particles of dust danced in the sunlight. A frightened spider shot out from behind a vase covered in cobwebs. Between the two windows hung an old family portrait that caught her attention. A friendly looking man and a beautiful young woman both had a hand on the shoulders of a young boy in the middle that resembled the pale man she had met minutes before. She rubbed the small golden plaque attached to the frame underneath the canvas clean of the filth that had gathered on it and read 'Greenthorpe family portrait. 1242.'
"That makes it over two hundred years old." She mumbled to herself as the sound of footsteps behind her revealed that the tired hare had returned.
To her surprise she noticed that the color had returned to his face and his fur was thicker and softer then it had been before. He walked up straight and his eyes that had looked so hollow before were so warm and friendly now. "My name is Louie Greenthorpe." He said as he reached out his hand, but retracted it before she could shake it. He turned away his eyes from her.
“I'm sorry if my appearance before has upset you."

"Hello son." Theodore Crompton waved at his son and his friend Tim who he found sitting by the creek. Theodore was a tall and muscular man. A large axee rested on his shoulder for he would go into the forest to cut some wood for the oncoming winter.
The winters were very cold up north and he wanted to start early to make sure his family would not grow cold. He walked over to Markie and gave him a pat on the head.
"Good morning, father." His hands were a little shaky and he quickly looked away in the direction of the mansion. Tim did the same because he could not face Theodore and keep the secret.
"Is everything alright boys, you both look a little bit shaken up." Markie and Tim both revealed the secret of the monster in the Greenthorpe mansion instantly, because keeping secrets is what children do best. Theodore threw the axe on the floor and grabbed the boys by their hands. "Now what did your mother and I tell you about that house?"
Markie cried "There was a girl, she went in there alone and she still has not returned."
Theodore told the boys to go straight home. If they were to be obedient their punishment would be considerably lighter and the boys ran off.
He picked the axe up of the ground and headed for the mansion to locate the girl.

Majo was full of questions, but the first one she asked was "What just happened?"
The man in front of her fell silent for a while not sure whether to tell her the truth or a simple lie. He could tell this girl was different from the visitors he had received to his home in the past.
For one, she did not have a clue of what was going on. Something his previous guests were quite aware of. And secondly, she was not carrying a weapon of any kind.
He decided it was best to play stupid and raised his shoulders. "I dozed off for a moment there, I am quiet alright I assure you." Majo was not satisfied by this answer and pointed at the painting. "Who is that?" Her questions were as short as her patience at this moment.
"If you are referring to the boy in the middle, he was my great grandfather Egedius Greenthorpe." His face did not show any emotion.
It had not shown any emotion since she had arrived here and she could not tell what he was thinking.
She came around to her final question, for the moment at least, her had was filled with them, but she had a hard time filtering out all of the important once.
"Why is this place such a mess?" Louie turned around not to face her and answered. "My family abandoned this house a long time ago and moved to a... different place. I simply came back here to check on things." He turned to face her again with those sad eyes of his. "I am planning on moving back in here."
His answers were as short as her questions, but something about him made her trust him. Louie grabbed an old broom from a corner behind a beautiful, old piano and he started sweeping the floor while hanging his head in shame. "It's alright." She said and she smiled as she put her paw on his. His flesh felt cold and damp. "You've not been here in a while, let me help you."
Majo walked out of the room in search of cleaning utensils and Louie continued his sweeping unaware of the presence of an unwelcome guest.
"What have you done with the girl?" Theodore Crompton had made his way into the house and faced Louie holding his axee close to his body.
"She is alright; please do not come any closer." Louie spoke in a calm tone. "I have not harmed her; I have never fed off of an innocent..." He knew in his heart that what he was about to say was not true. Theodore paid no heed to his warning and stepped forward, slightly raising his axe.
"I think it's time we ended the myth of the Greenthorpe monster once and for all." He raised his axe and wanted to hit Louie in the face with it.
But in the blink of an eye the former had grabbed the shaft of the sharp weapon and pulled it out of Theodore's hands. He threw it across the room, grabbed Theodore's neck and opened his mouth to bare a pair of fearsome canines. "No, please."
Theodore gasped for breath as Louie hit Theodore over the head with the blunt side of the ax. A thick stain of red blood was spread over his head. "I'm sorry, old man." Louie dragged the body through the hallway and opened the door to the basement. He stashed Theodore's body into a chest that had been used to store coal in for the old boiler.
Louie wiped clean the blood from the ax and dropped it in a corner and made his way back to the drawing room just before Majo entered with a bucket full of water and a ragged piece of cloth. "Many hands make light work." She smiled at him and he stared back at her, a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"We have to leave." He said and made no notion to wait around for her as he grabbed a musky, brown coat and walked out.
As he was halfway down the path leading to the gate she caught up with him and tugged at his arm.
"But you've only just returned to the home of your ancestors. What makes you want to leave?"
"Fair lady..." He started and Majo giggled over the archaic use of words. "I cannot explain it to you but I cannot allow you to remain a guest in my house. Please allow me to provide you with other accommodations for the night." He asked her and he gave her a kind nod.
"Why, esteemed gentleman." Majo smiled at her own accent and took hold of the arm he offered. "Where to?"
"There is an inn a couple of hours away from here called 'The Green dragon' it's not much but it should provide a safe haven for a short while." And off they went.

As they followed the flow of Peddleburg creek the evening set in and the chill wind in the air gave Majo Goosebumps.
Louie took his jacket off and put it around her shoulders, she gave him a smile but his eyes were focused on something in the far distance.
"I'm afraid we have some unpleasant company, but don't be afraid." Majo could see it too, a group of three or four men in the distance coming closer with seemingly unfriendly intentions.
She hid behind Louie as one of them with a toad-like appearance pulled a small blade out from behind his back and pointed it at Louie's Adams apple.
"Your money or your life, sir." He croacked. His long, slimey tongue hang from his mouth as he made a little bow.
"And they say chivalry is dead." Louie hissed and he kicked the toad hard in the crotch. The blade hit the ground before the toad did and his three accomplices jumped forward.
He took one out with a hard knock to the side of its hideous face and kicked another in the teeth. The third hesitated to attack, but made up his mind rather quickly when Louie bared his sharp fangs and ran. "Please, no, no." The toad on the ground cried out. Louie made no intention to harm them any further and grabbed a shivering Majo's hand. After they had left their assailants behind them Majo pushed his hand away, as if she had regained her own voice and rational thoughts.
"You! You are a vampire." She finally said and the thought seemed even stranger out loud. "And to think I trusted you, you filthy beast." She took a few steps back towards a small ridge near the water.
"Wait, be careful." Louie took a step towards her to prevent her from falling off but it was in vain and she fell backwards and hit her head on a rock.

Majo woke up the next morning with the smell of fresh bread that was standing in a little basket on her night stand in the small room.
She eagerly grabbed it and feasted on the small meal. Her head hurt a little and she felt a bump on the back of her head.
'The vampire.' The thought of him shot through her mind and her fingers moved down to her neck. 'No puncture wounds, good.' She thought.
She took a few more bites of another lump of bread when Louie walked in to the room. She pulled up her sheets over her bare chest and fell silent. He had saved her twice and had not bitten her. And he seemed to be far from the things she heard about in the ghosts stories. Travelling had made her more open minded; a little too open-minded some would say. And she knew that prejudice could be a terrible thing. She had witnessed that with her own eyes during her travels on more than one account. Louie sat down on the bed near her legs and looked at the ground. "I know what you must think of me, but I can assure you, it was never my intention to bring upon you any harm."
He got up and walked back to the door. "If you need anything, just ring that bell over there on your night stand and I'll be here in no time."
Louie left her to get a few more hours of sleep and sat down at the bar and several thoughts ran through his mind.
"How is the girl?" The proprietor of 'The green dragon' asked him as he washed several glasses clean of the stains people had left on them last night.
It was crowded when they arrived and the owner's wife had tended to Majo at ones and given her the largest room in the inn, right behind the bar.
"She will live, thank you for your concern." The innkeeper nodded and returned to his dishes.
Louie rubbed through his face and looked at the door to Majo's room. 'Don't worry Tobias. I have not forgotten.'

Chapter 2: Divine Bloody Retribution by Kaz.

They deserved it. A group of Carrotus' militia deserved it. No, all of them deserved, it. They weren't an army, not enough to be called Marines. They were just raiders and treasure hunters, and of course, many profits going to the government. That was okay, the money they used went to go feed people. No, it also went to weapons to destroy people. Money might have been what it was all about to group Beta4.

Before the corruption

The mission was simple. I would be the distraction above dropping small bombs to get their attention, and more importantly the turrets' attention. He had a shield and probably was the hardest to hit in the air. Why not be the bait as well as having 2/5 of the payment (twice as much) as anybody else for it?
James was the ruthless one of the group. Everybody wanted him in the group since he would have to do the dirty work that nobody else wanted. A perfect soldier for this mission and for anything that you might have called an army. He was to back up the safe-cracker should anybody notice the treasury had been breached. Usually people would become a great person through hard work, but I didn't know James wasn't one of those people. The brown, tall, rabbit towered over other people like they were insects. Maybe it was just because of his tallness that it seemed like that. 1/5 of the payment for him.
Eleanor was a pro at what she did, stealing. A lot of flirting on the simulations had gotten her very close to James' heart, and wallet. She wasn't told what was in the safe, but just to grab anything that looked valuable. That is to say money, credit cards, gems, and data. The briefing emphasized on the importance of data for espionage. Strange how they weren't even informed who they were stealing from. She was a medium sized white rabbit with blond flowing hair. Despite the regulations for keeping it in a bun, she preferred the relaxeed look. Maybe she didn't have a care in the world because of all missions and looting she have done. 1/5 for her.
Boz was just a technician. He wasn't into this army stuff at all but needed this money. Simple job for him. Cut the power, keep it cut, cut the security systems after the power was cut, keep those cut. This guy could have been a hacker, he looked weak and had darkly green fur. He was weak though and would probably be punched out by somebody like James before executing the TERM command if he wasn't on our side. 1/5 for him.

A 5/5 team.

Before the killing
High above, the first bomb hadn't been dropped and it was very silent. I tried to see who we were fighting, but most of them were wearing helmets and gas-masks for paranoia. Maybe they expected a wipeout of gas. There, that spot didn't have anybody patrolling it, I armed and threw a bomb at the space. The silence broke and sirens rang. I noted the three rabbits running but keeping their heads low. Boz was the one who strayed into the control room which he would probably gas, kind of ironic.
"And here come the first wave of turrets," I muttered to myself as I tried to gain altitude and dropped a lot of bombs Boz had given me. Mostly they'd just to cover the base in smoke since they detonated before hitting the ground and add for some fun confusion. No killing this mission, I wanted it that way.
The familiar scream of heat seeking missiles came to mind and I set my small blaster onto flares. No aim required, just fire past them at the base. Their fault for using heat-seekers.
When the first seeker hit the ground a scream penetrated the sounds of firing and a 'CEASE FIRE, swit...' was issued. I dropped more bombs so they wouldn't know where they were fighting. The fools probably didn't notice the robbery.
'Takin' the fire, kaz?' the headset voice of James taunted me. I guess he was the only one with free time right now while Elly cracked the safe.
"Yeah, how're Elly and Boz?" I asked and dropped more bombs and a few flares even though the seekers had stopped... the seekers had stopped. What were they doing? James didn't answer back. I was sure he was alright, but he seemed pretty sure of himself before. Relaxeing, lowering altitude, putting up my blue shield below me. That was my mistake.
'A'ite, Elly an' me got the goods!!' James said over the intercom, they were probably already almost out and taking the same route out. It didn't matter, nobody would see them anyways, but the crescent shield I used stuck out like a neon sign.
"THERE!!” CLOSE RANGE!! I cursed at myself for going so low and put up the crescent in the direction of fire to avoid blaster fire from there... there weren't any from that direction. I dropped flares as well, slow heat seekers? Oh, the power must have been down. Alright, back to the group in the north.
Nobody figured out that the base ran on a small nuclear reactor, the radiation wasn't a problem because of the nature of the atmosphere and some other things, but things could still go wrong, like the safeties being removed by the security system. I cursed at myself for forgetting it. The reactors exploded, the main power had been cut from them, but they hadn't been shut off. Stupid Boz. The north one blew up as I flew past it and I saw myself signing up for this mission and saw several people asking me to not go. Then I saw the ATV we were camping in before I crashed into it. At least I'd die with the rogues, they must have been rebels of some kind... they would all die. Why did it have to end like that? Now that I thought of it, I remember seeing the Carrotus signature on the cannons... were we fighting the good guys? Were they the baddies? And then I thought of nothing more for a while.

After the killing

I remember, no, I was seeing James passing me by, followed by Eleanor and then Boz. Boz looked happy but disappointed that he had such an effect on the base, Eleanor looked happy for doing such a good job on the looting, I could see a large diamond pin in her hair now. James was happy. Why was he happy? WHY WERE THEY ALL HAPPY? WHERE WAS I IN THIS PICTURE?!?! I tried to move and couldn't get up. A small unarmed bomb rolled out from the bag I carried and cracked a twig. James twisted backwards and found me in a might as well be dead perception. My left wing was snapped but I still held a gun in the right.
"Hey, he did survive, James!" Boz was the first to say anything. Did they all think otherwise? Hah... they thought I was dead.
"'e didn't, 'e's dead, 'e was bait and died." James coldly replied. I tried to scream, say I was still alive to the moron. Why did he want me dead?!
"James, what'll we do?" Eleanor spoke, I called her many bad things at this time. HOW COULD SHE ASK THAT?! At the same time I choked. They wouldn't kill me, but they would leave me out here? James approached me and crouched down, his blaster ready to shoot a fatal shot. ... It dawned on me that I was the only one that didn't want to kill... and then...
"We'll h've his pay, darlin'." James turned to look at Boz to make sure there were no objections. Killing me for my pay to split among themselves... no..
"You can't do that!! I need the money too but it isn't worth killing for." Boz shouted at him and pulled out his own blaster ready to fight him. Stupid hypocrite... Nobody noticed me raising my wing and gun, maybe it was fate that it was set on RF's. It was either me or them... right? James turned his head, not noticing the gun at point-blank in time
"We don-" BANG. I wasn't dead, dead people don't kill. James would kill if he still had a head.
Eleanor screamed at the headless bloody james, the fur coat turning reddish brown now. Boz aimed. How could he say that it wasn't worth killing for when he killed the families that were probably on that base? BANG and I shot again. They hadn't bothered to help me. Boz flew back like a ragdoll into a tree and blood seeped out of him. Eleanor screamed some more. She shouldn't live either. Her bag lay on the ground and she ran for it. How could she not think to help? How could she wonder if one's life or money mattered most?! I emptied out several RF rounds and saw the bloody mess I was in. I was the lone survivor. I was the most honorable one. It was clear now who the real enemy was. Carrotus, Carrotus and all of it’s' corruption.

It's money grabbing from the dead. We need a new military school for the children? Okay, let's go kill those families regardless of race and take theirs. It hurt on the inside to think of it. I would kill them, the (-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)s

After all the corruption, all the killing

How ironic. I finished setting the bomb that was even made for Boz except with more blow-power. It wasn't hard to get in, the guards were cheap and untrained. I'd blow up this old fossil fuel supply that the military depended on. I'd blow it up, and every residence would follow the leader. They all deserved to die for their impurities, they who would run over the wounded on the road instead of helping. They who valued their own lives over others. The damned war loving children who would shoot their mom in the crazed patriotism of it all if they suspected she was not with them. They'll all die. Three minutes. I was gone in one. Hahahahaha... rabbits, so similar to the human’s grandmother always told him myths about; they never cared and they should suffer for it. I was only helping karma along.

It didn't matter, all these people he had killed over the last period. People that deserved to die. Bounty hunters for one. It was always intentional. One time it wasn't, a pink female rabbit with quite a few tricks, but no skill came after him. She fell too easy and looked dead. I just walked away, it wasn't my fault. The wench shot at me several times with seekers and I shot a flare back at her. Her fault. Not mine. Weren't you in that position a while ago?
Not my problem.
"Another," this was my fourteenth... "Vodka!!"
"Don't overdo it, son." the bar-tender replied. I looked hard at him and wondered if I could... no. I was mad at somebody else. My head hurt too much to even pull the trigger. He was just concerned after all. All I could remember right now was the taste of the vodka and what happened.

earlier at afternoon

I had gone more.. large scale on Carrotus. They expected military base bombings now. The 6th bomb was defused, somehow. I flew away too fast to check who did it or how in the world it was done. I think I actually made a popular topic of myself in the government. It didn't matter what they thought.
I moved on to what tools they used of those I hated. I hated weapons. You use weapons all the time... That didn't matter though. I'd poison this weapon factory. The type of poison was called "cherry blossoms". It turned eyes that sort of pink colour after driving the user insane with a flood of memories because of a chemical reaction. Maybe it was the red colour of the gas, or the fact that it was once used in a place with so many cherry blossoms and people seemed to scream about them the most. It didn't matter.
The ventilation was all from one large generator. Stupid move from the corporation. Maybe they never had to worry about it. It was a large typical rectangular factory, and they looked like they needed to save money on architecture. The windows let in little light and probably fit the grim surroundings. Smoke stacks towered on the roof of the building. They weren't very active right now, maybe they weren't smoke stacks. I'd stop the smoke, stop the evil, and there would be less weapons for a while. I'd stop all of them.
The poison was in a bomb that looked just like a regular metal barrel. It fit in perfectly with all the other supplies they kept in barrels near the back. Those were chained down though because the ventilation system sucked in a lot of air. It was perfect for intoxication. The intake machine or main vent was surrounded by a 20-feet high metal mesh fence with barbed wire eight feet and above.
I looked at the fence. Oh, it is gas, it'll flood in. I started to push it so it'd be in vacuum distance. Bah, the casing was too heavy. I shoved it, it didn't budge. Stupid Kaz, always so weak when it came to brute force. Backing up, I rammed it onto its side and rolled it. It got a bit easier since the wind started to blow my way. No wait, that was the vent sucking in the air!! I kneeled over as the gusts pulled off a few feathers and twisted the timer to 30 seconds and side-stomped on it. The barrel rolled and gained momentum (16), hit the fence which was too cheap to serve a purpose. Suddenly another wind twisted it around so it would emit the gas at me. Hahaha, I didn't deserve this divine retribution(3)... the small outlet on the top flipped open. It-... it wouldn't hit me. I know so. (0) The red gas, it reminded me of a smoke bomb from childhood. We had fun that day, so many fireworks. ARG. That gas, it came out three feet from me, but I scurried away and Cherry Blossoms was sucked into the vents. Mission accomplished.

a bit after

The smoke stacks on the top sighed barely pink, but eventually faded to their very light grey. It was past the ten minute life-time of the poison. By now it was too dispersed to have an effect. Should I go in? I walked to the front door and laughed as it seemed it wasn't made for tall people.
"HELP ME! OH PLEASE HELP ME!!! PLEASE!!! PATRICK? ARE YOU THERE?!!" some old bat was pleading. She was reliving something. Curiosity got the better of me and I unjammed the door. Why was it jammed?
She immediately clung to me! Her eyes were so pink, almost red. "You have to save my child!!" she screamed in my face. An innocent... was she innocent? "Why aren't you listening?! YOU HAVE TO SAVE THEM!!" she banshee'd some more. Her grip was so hard on my shoulders. It hurt now. It hurt to stare at her face, the way she clung to me like I was her savior. "I can-" her dead dropped before I could tell her I couldn't save her children. Congratulations, this is what happens. BAH. It didn't matter, it didn't matter at all. Why should it? Why should I stop the solution to the violence? She would have stood up for them anyway!!


current time

The 18th vodka. It still wouldn't go away. She's just with them. It's for the greater purpose. Everything was a swirl though, my thoughts, my vision, my destination, I was drunk. Things would flash red or blue occasionally. No wait... that's familiar.

I don't remember much else except for running out the back, and the bar tender yelling at me for not paying. Yay for me, I bought a small aircraft earlier today. It was squarish. The 'Frisbee' model is made for overall speed, small guns, two small missiles, but not exactly evasive, but the thinness made it hard to hit. Why did they call it that model when it was squarish? "Destination?" the screen displayed. "Anywher-bt-her," I barely mumbled and tied all the words together. I was going to have one hell of a hangover. It either lifted off to somewhere, or I fell asleep and felt light. Maybe it was both.


I need to get a job... it's too bright to be morning...
It was too true; I was running out of money from weapons, food and this ship. The only money I had left was in a bag that had grown considerably light. No credit cards, bank accounts, I withdrew from them all so I couldn't be as well tracked.
Am I dreaming? "Arrgh." Yesterday still pained me. I was awake, the sun was bright as termite, and there was a large bag of money on the floor that accompanied my own. Reimbursement it read. SH- This meant three things; somebody broke in, somebody could have killed me and taken my money, and somebody had just hired me.

Chapter 3: Last exit, green Carrotus by Acid.

Tony Waterback was considered one of the best pilots in the galaxey. The gray-furred jackrabbit from Technoir had won the Carrotean space race 5 years in a row, and was going to enter the sixth. He had built his own ship: a compact 1-man flyer with 2 large boosters and 2 wings that curved up and around the top, each wing carrying a small pulse cannon in case of emergencies. This was an emergency.

He had been practicing by the old Sluggion asteroid belt when an old Shellian defense system had booted itself up and opened fire on his ship, at the same time calling for help. The asteroid-mounted turrets had been easy to deal with; their armor had been shredded by space dust and the only weapon they used was an outdated laser battery. However, the Shellian fighters that responded to the distress call were much more dangerous. They had piloting skill that rivaled Tony’s own, and ships designed for combat as well as fancy flying. Tony’s pulse cannons weren’t even getting past the shields on the fighters, and turning tail and running seemed to be the only option. Tony gunned the gyro thrusters, spinning his ship around in a perfect 180-degree turn before rocketing away from the Shellian fighters.

Luckily for Tony, the Shellians only carried clumsy radar-guided missiles and plasma cannons, which he could easily dodge. The only problem was that the Shellians would not give up chase. Tony led them all the way around Pezrock, Medivo, and even Chrysilis, and they never faltered in their chase. Apparently he had to find a friendly system that would destroy his assailants. Carrotus seemed like a good option, so he started heading towards there.

However, Tony’s luck ran out when he reached the Carrotan Asteroid Belt. The asteroids were thickly clumped, and Tony was having a hard time maneuvering around all of them. He started concentrating more on the asteroids than the Shellians fire, which proved to be a mistake. After swerving around a particularly large asteroid, Tony found himself flying head-on towards a Shellian missile. He tried to turn his ship, but it was too late. The missile struck his left wing, completely obliterating it and leaving the stump smoking. The ship could still fly forward, but due to its lack of left wing, it could not turn to the right. Tony struggled to pilot it out of the asteroid field, and somehow managed to succeed. His ship shot away from the last of the asteroids, the Shellians in hot pursuit.
Carrotus loomed ahead. The Shellians took this opportunity to break off before Carrotus’s defense fleet saw them, leaving Tony’s smoldering ship streaking towards Carrotus.

Landing without a left wing hadn’t seemed to hard to Tony at first. He had forgotten about air resistance, though, and his ship persisted in turning to the right, throwing the landing angle off completely. Tony was coming down in a large empty field and had plenty of room to land, but it would be tricky with one of his wings gone. Tony tried adjusting the landing angle, but overcompensated and ended up hitting the ground side-on, smashing the right wing like aluminum foil and sending the main part of the ship to a spinning, flipping finale before finally stopping upside-down. “Dangit, I spent a million credits building this thing!” thought Tony. “At least the ten thousand spent on this grav-chair were worth it. That was one heck of a ride!” Indeed, Tony’s grav-chair was the only reason he was still alive: the anti-gravity stabilizers had kept him in suspension so that he wouldn’t receive any shock from the crash.

Tony picked his way out of the wreckage and inspected the damage. The cockpit had survived mostly, with the exception of the nose, which was bent nearly 90 degrees to the left. The body was dented in several places, and opening the service hatch confirmed that the fusion generator used to power the ship had been smashed like a soda can. About 100 yards away, Tony could see the sun reflect off what used to be his right wing.

“Flippin’ heck” swore Tony. He seemed to be alone in the field, but as he looked around, he saw a building some ways away. Perhaps someone there could help him get back home…

Chapter Four: The situation back home by Ducky

Some time ago...
The Civil War on Diamondus had been going on for almost two years. It was February now, the worst season on Diamondus at any time, but with the war confining everyone, the streets were filthy, dirty water running down them in rivers, and the blue circles under everyone's eyes were deeper. Rabbits everywhere kept their blasters well greased, their blades sharp, because there was no telling which side your neighbour had turned to. Species could not be a determining point, for it was well known that foxes, rabbits, and turtles alike could be seen sharing drinks in the grubby taverns. Clans, too, kept to themselves, meeting in secret, but even still, several mutilated bodies bearing matching cerulean armbands had lain in the rain and grime on the main street for two days before a Patrol carried them off. Inflation had sky-rocketed, and tiny children could be seen begging in the alleys, bony paws outstretched.

Rain was pouring straight down upon Verity's hunched shoulders, soaking the brown paper bag with her precious groceries. Her black tipped, grey lop ears pinned back against the downpour, she ducked into the cover of an overhanging doorway. Fumbling for keys in her pocket, she slipped into the dusty gloom of the apartment building. From her fifth floor window, she could see most of the city to the south and west. A plume of smoke, rising from somewhere in the buildings, blended with the leaden clouds. Too warm for snow, as always on Diamondus, but too cold to ever get the soggy chill out of her bones. Verity booted up her computer, stuffing packages from her bag into the cupboards. She peeled off several layers of colourless, sodden garments, shivering slightly as the draft of the air touched her wet fur. Verity tied her dark auburn, waist length hair out of her pale green eyes, shaking rainwater out of it. Her body was skinny and unhealthily bony as she pulled on a dry shirt of neatly patched linen and traded her dripping shoes for knee high black boots. She reapplied the black eye makeup that blended into her grey fur, and, after briefly checking for an update on her computer, she scrambled into more layers and prepared to leave.
For a moment she paused, looking out the west window. The sun was setting, and the clouds were bloodied by its last rays.
Verity turned and walked out her door. The rabbit's heavy boots were noisy in the vacant apartment- many of her neighbours had been elderly, and had travelled to other planets seeking peace when the war broke out. Although Verity felt her 28 years weighed heavier on her than they should, she had stayed behind when requested, working as a hacker. She was sometimes needed for her skills at combat, though, as was everyone, and she bore scars of more than one skirmish that she would like to forget. At times it seemed hard to even remember why the war had begun. At times Verity was on the verge of tears as she remembered her childhood on this planet, and even more so when she recalled her peaceful life on Medivo. Though it rained there nearly constantly, the rain was warm and sweet, and the moss grew heavily on the ruins. Diamondus, though, had once been beautiful too- that was why Verity had chosen it, although it was not until the war that she had moved into the city.
Verity walked the cracked pavement to a small tavern, stepping around puddles and the occasional blowing newspaper. Over the door, a battered wooden sign from which the weather had long since worn the name swung creakily. Searching again in her knapsack to find another key, she plunged it into the lock, opening the door into a dimly lit room crowded with chairs and round tables.
"Eddie?" Verity tugged off her cloak, already soaked from the short walk, and hung it by the door.
From a back room a dusty red rabbit emerged, peering over round lenses.
"Ah, Verity." He smiled, a scar scribbled in white through his fur.
"I've been working on the new code. It seems to be going well. You made excellent progress on the Uniform Amplification Locators, also."
Verity cast the older rabbit a wan smile, tying, as she did so, a short white apron over her garments.
"Try and look innocent tonight. You never know who might come in." She began to start a fire in the brick fireplace in the left wall.

Carrot ale gurgled into a green glass. "Get you another drink, Nick?" Verity's tray was perched precariously between shoulder and chin as she wiped a table down, smiling at a friend. "How're you doing, Riff?" She attempted an awkward hug and spilled a bit of sherry onto her tail tip. Grinning wryly, she topped off someone's glass while he dug in his pocket for more change.
"Another round, gentlemen?" She paused to laugh at a joke a tawny-furred cat was telling in the back corner, and eyed a cloaked visitor at the bar, whose tiger striped tail was twitching off the edge of the barstool. Verity made her way back behind the bar.
"Can I get you a drink, stranger?" While she tried to welcome people, there was no being too careful, and Verity did not like unfamiliar faces.
Green eyes peered out from behind the hood, inspecting Verity's features.
"Are you the bartender?"
"That I am. You look chilled to the bone. Nasty weather out there, among other things. How about a mulled wine?"
The creature sighed, relaxed slightly.
"That sounds nice."
Verity poured the liquid from its copper tin into a glass mug, watching it bubble softly. She poured herself a Lemoncello and sipped it as she wiped down the bar absently. In the back room she could faintly hear Eddie clicking away at his keyboards. Her silver RF blaster was under the counter, her javelin leaning against the wall, and she didn't feel safe. As the only bartender, she knew half the people in the bar as regulars and had seen most of the faces before, always responded to their winks with a smile and a wave, would not hesitate to plant a kiss on a cheek before wishing one of them a safe trip back to their flat. She knew any of them would try and protect her, and she knew Eddie, not to mention the rest of her friends, would do twice what they were capable of for her. She did not feel safe. She drank the last of her Lemoncello.
She wondered when she would feel safe again.

It was late in the afternoon the next day when she roused herself from her sleep, having gotten home from the bar at 6 AM. Verity clutched her cloak around her as she wandered from the tangle of blankets on her couch. She knelt on the floor, looking out of her window as she did so often, leaning against the chair back. She traced a scar on her arm, thought about the poison she kept in her medicine cabinet.
She thought about the poison every day.
Her computer beeped, drawing her attention.

Verity stood up. She would make one more person laugh tonight at her bar.
She would give at least one more day to her cause.
She would not give up yet, even though she wanted to.

Chapter five: Prey by Doubble Dutch

So hungry There was food, where? Ahead, smallish. Kill. Feed. Tier dashed through the undergrowth, his agility unbecoming of his decayed flesh. Food, small. KILL! The turtle grabbed the rat and downed it in two bites, feeling its warmth, its life seeping into him. For a second The Hunger was sated and Tier reflected on what he was doing. Hunting. To feed. Just like so many nights before. Don't loose scent. Food closer now. Tier dashed ahead, preparing to cut his prey off. It was small and would be dispatched easily.

Move in. Go for the neck...Larger prey! Stalk! Tier obediently followed the instincts of The Hunger, for Tier was a Zombie. Not the shuffling moaning forms so often imagining to rise from the grave, but an Arcania Zombie, an undead predator whose sole existence was devoted to tracking and killing prey. Agile and violent Tier was a victim of his undead instincts, feeding of the living flesh to prevent his own from rotting. Now there was prey large enough to stop the hunger for a week, maybe longer. He didn't care. He couldn't. His mind buried under The Hunger only knew that soon his body would no longer be a festering corpse, at least for a few days.

Big, slow. Climb above and behind. Tier glanced down at his victim, a blue rabbit, with a gun. Unfortunate that an innocent would die, but The Hunger... The gun would be no problem, he was immortal, invincible to anything that couldn't reduce him to ashes, but an arm would be a long time in regrowing. Attack lower, aim for the side of the neck...

The cool night air was disrupted briefly by a growl, gunfire and the sounds of feeding. It would be several hours before Tier would wake to bemoan his fate.

Chapter six: Paperwork by ToxicBunny

Tom shifted in his chair. His cushion had "gone missing" long ago, and he wasn't going to bring another one to work in case that one "went missing" too. It's not that he didn't appreciate that there were people in the building with a greater need than his own. It's just that he suspected Gary Parker had taken the cushion home with him. With his inheritance, Parker was quite rich. Especially for a councillor. Especially in Greenthorpe. Industrial decline had reduced Greenthorpe to a shadow of its former self, and anyone living on more than a subsistence wage considered themselves lucky.
Thomas Bradhurst was a slightly short, orange rabbit, with a single lop-ear. He wore glasses with circular lenses and a thin, silvery frame. They covered a pair of dull blue eyes. He owned two suits, one of which he would wear to work as the other one was cleaned. They were both grey, and both shabby. He had one red tie, one green tie, and a black bow-tie for special occasions. Today he was wearing his green tie. He wore the red tie when he was doing the town's accounts, when he was afraid the ink would splash.
Tom looked at the letter again. It was too good to be true. At the same time, it worried him. How would people react?
"Dr. Bradhurst," it began. They'd certainly done their research. Most people didn't know he'd been awarded a doctorate. Clearly, they were eager. And it was a very good offer for the town. But what would people think of it? Most of them would be glad. The Greenthorpe mansion should have been pulled down years ago. And yet, it stood as a monument to the town's great past. Would people be willing to trade that for the town's great future? Timothy took his glasses off and mopped his brow. He'd run it by Gary Parker. Parker was almost always against him - if he agreed it was a good idea, there'd be no problem convincing the citizens.
"Parker!" he called out. Parker probably wasn't doing anything. The only time Parker could be expected to do any actual work was at the annual fête, when he would run himself ragged at the behest of his grandmother, who ran the show.
"Parker!" he called out again. A moment later, a door down the hall slammed shut. Not long after that, Parker stuck his head round Tom's door.
"Yes, Bradhurst?" sighed Parker.
"I want your opinion on a deal I have on the table. A company from Earian want to set up a new factory here. New jobs for everyone. New people in the empty houses. And... more money to pay councillors."
"You know you've got my attention."
"There is a catch. They want to take over the old Tambleside complex. And they also want access to the river."
"So the Greenthorpe mansion would have to go?"
"Yes."
"And they'd cover the cost of pulling it down?"
"I would have thought so."
"Right. So what's the problem?"
"Never mind. There is no problem."
"I'm a busy man, Bradhurst," said Parker, as he left. Tom snorted, then sat back, satisfied. There was only one thing left to be done. He headed down to the council library.

The "library" was a small, cramped room in the cellar. Any floor space not occupied by bookshelves or filing cabinets was knee-high in old paperwork. A single drawer in one of the cabinets was used to store all the town's maps. The cabinet was at the opposite end of the room from the door, and Tom had to clamber over the mounds of yellowing paper to reach it. Bracing himself against some nearby shelves, he tugged at the drawer. All the most commonly used documents were in drawers that wouldn't stay shut. Anybody looking for maps usually went to the school, so more specialized cartography was kept in the stiffest drawer. He eventually got it open. He reached in and pulled out a property map of the town.
No, nobody owned the Tambleside complex. No, nobody owned that section of the river. In between lay the grounds of the Greenthorpe mansion. They were shaded in, and there was a property code. He put the map back in the drawer. Hopefully it was a mistake. The tax records would show it. He clambered back to the other side of the room and opened another drawer. After a moment of searching, he found the tax records for the street.

Susan and Tom had lived in the village for almost three years. They had been married for eight. She was taller than he was, with ginger patches over her normally white fur. She had just started cooking dinner when Tom burst through the door.
"You're home early!" she exclaimed. Then she saw the look on his face.
"You are staying, dear?" she continued.
"Could you saddle my horse? I'll be packing."
"Where are you going?"
"Number 12, Ditchfield Street, Orleton. I have a very big purchase to make."
"There's an extra horse free if you need it."
"Not that kind of purchase. Here, take this."
"A letter?"
"It's to the leader of the council."
"Oh. Tom, no. I can't take your place again. Not after last time."
"You're the only one I trust with the job, Susan. You know that."
"There are plenty of people who are more than capable of sitting on the council. Your uncle, for instance. Surely you can trust him?"
"Uncle Martin would make a good councillor. Until he started demanding that the school teaches about the ways of vampires."
"Tom, I've been talking to the people in the village. Everyone here thinks there's a vampire."
"So? However ingrained the superstition is, it's still ridiculous."
"But some of them say they've seen it. In the old mansion."
"The Greenthorpe mansion? What a coincidence. It looks like I'm about to destroy the myth once and for all."

An hour later, Tom was riding towards the north east. He had changed into his travelling clothes, the only other clothing he owned. He'd be riding through the night. Better riding than setting up camp, he thought. When he was a child, his father had told him tales about the monsters that haunted the night. He knew it was irrational, but he was still scared of the dark. But as long as he rode, he was comfortable that he couldn't be caught by anything unsavoury.
Things had been so much simpler when he was a child. Then his uncle had agreed to send him to university on condition that he studied vampires. At the end of his first year he secretly switched subjects, and earned himself a doctorate in engineering. He had faked a diploma to show to his uncle and his parents. They had been so proud. He was still plagued by the guilt of knowing that he'd cheated his uncle. On top of that, his father had found out. They hadn't spoken since.

It was just past noon the next day when he arrived in Orleton. By one o'clock he'd found the offices at number 12, Ditchfield Street, and by two o'clock he was talking to Ranford Smith, Senior, one half of the Cholmondely & Smith legal team.
"I'm afraid," said Mr. Smith sympathetically, "that we are in no position to sell you the Greenthorpe mansion. Our position as trustee is clearly made out in Mr. Greenthorpe's will."
"Well, how long can you keep paying taxees?"
"The Greenthorpe fortune was considerable. The interest alone almost pays the taxe. But don't despair. If you really are determined, there's one thing you may want to try."
"Yes?"
"We take care of the Greenthorpe fortune on condition that no heir can be found."
"Are you telling me there's an heir?"
"No. If we knew there was an heir, he'd be in control of the estate, and you would not be talking to me now. There is, however, a possibility of there being an heir. But you'd have to go to the Carrotus Central Records Office."
"I assume that's in New Carrotus?"
"Yes. There are daily flights from Prestbury, if that's any help."
"It is, thanks. I guess I'll be going home, then."
"Good luck." With that, Tom left. Mr. Smith waited until he could see, through his office window, that Tom was outside. He picked up the phone and dialed Jack Cholmondely's number.
"Jack? Yes. I've just had a young man in here asking about the Greenthorpe estate."
"Did you tell him about the heir clause?"
"Of course I did. We are legally obliged to."
"Of course."
"He's heading back to Greenthorpe now. Just so you know."
"Yes, just so I know. Thank you, Ranford." He put down the phone. Jack's associates would take care of Mr. Bradhurst. The Greenthorpe estate was too profitable to lose.

Susan entered the council chamber. Everyone turned when they heard the door open and then stared as she walked down the central aisle to the leader's desk.
"Not again," said Parker, without any attempt to keep his voice down. Susan reached the leader's desk and handed him the letter. He smiled as he took it. Susan remembered that most of the people in the chamber did like her. But she could tell Parker's eyes were boring into the back of her head.
"Welcome back to the council, Mrs. Bradhurst..." said the leader, and he smiled again, "Susan."
"Thank you," she replied, and turned around. Parker quickly looked away. She walked over to her husband's place and sat down.
"The first order of business," said the leader "is the Tambleside proposal. Would Gary Parker take the floor?"
"Thank you," said Parker, standing. There was a quick glance at Susan, and then he focused on his notes. He continued, "I have been in communication with a prominent Earian company concerning a plan to redevelop the Tambleside complex."
"Oh, really?" interrupted Susan. "Would this have anything to do with the deal my husband is currently working on? The one that would require the demolition of the Greenthorpe mansion?"
"I don't know what your husband has told you, but I've been working on this for a while now. Yes, the Greenthorpe mansion would need to be demolished."
"You didn't even know about it until yesterday, Parker. I'm here because my husband is negotiating the purchase of the mansion."
"The building is dangerous. We have every right to pull it down without any negotiation."
"But the land would still belong to the Greenthorpe estate."

Night was falling. The creeping darkness urged Tom onwards. To his right was a forest, already shrouded in darkness. He would need to switch his torch on soon. He slowed down so that he could access his saddlebag. For a moment, he thought he heard hoof beats. Then there was silence. He reached into the saddlebag and took out his torch. He switched it on and shone it over the road ahead and behind, then over fields to his left. Nothing. He turned to the forest, but the density of the trees reduced the torchlight to nothing after a few meters. He strapped the torch to his saddle and rode on.
An hour later he was riding through the forest, pitch blackness on either side. He shivered. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing in the woods that would leap out at him. All the same, he rode as fast as he could. But there was something up ahead. As he drew closer, he could see a crude fence across the path. He slowed down. That hadn't been there last night. Had he taken a wrong turning? He reached the fence and got off his horse. Something hit him in the ribs and before he could react he was face down on the road. He looked up and saw three tough-looking rabbits, all dark red. They were dressed all in denim, apart from their leather hoods. They looked ridiculous, but they didn't look like the kind of people who took constructive criticism kindly. Tom tried to get up, but the largest one promptly sat on him.
"Well, what do we have here? A puny rabbit travelling alone at night? Don't you know how dangerous the woods can be?" asked another one. He was missing a large patch of fur on one side of his face. Tom turned his head. His horse had bolted.
"Get off him!" shouted the rabbit. His large companion started to get up, but before he was standing Tom had leapt up and floored him with a blow to the back of his head. The other two rabbits shouted and leapt at him, but he dodged out of the way. The only way he could escape was by heading into the forest, but the trees and the scrub were too thick. There was no obvious point of entry. He leapt over the makeshift fence and ran up the road. By the thumping behind him he could tell that all three were in pursuit. The road ahead was long and straight. There was nothing but forest as far as the eye could see. With nothing but moonlight, the furthest the eye could see was not very far. He pressed on. Then he saw it: a small opening between the trees and the ground. A burrow? He dove in. It wasn't a burrow, but it led to a narrow path through the forest. The larger rabbit would be unable to fit through the gap, so he'd only have to deal with two of them. He was starting to panic. He hadn't run this fast for a long time, and he didn't know how long he could hold out. He had no idea where this path was taking him. It started to slope downwards, and he found himself struggling to stay upright. There was a thick root sticking up out of the ground. He tripped. He felt himself rolling down the path, the forest turning in every direction around him. Then there was a searing pain in his head and he lost consciousness.

Chapter seven : The letter by Strato

"This was purely a violation of the Masquerade. If people like you keep running around showing your fangs, next time we'll be a little more...persistent with our demands. Now I know all about your, procedures and what not when dealing with these criminals, and frankly, I care about you and your protocol. Now I asked you kindly to enforce these laws, and until each of these rogue factions are eliminated, don't you think for a second that I won't make a house call on you. Now get out of my sight."
The nosferatu looked pleading, and even scared. But in silent agreement, they turned and slinked hastily out the door. The office was dimly lit, and the wooden door with the peeling letters "Office of A. Garand" was open with a trembling figure in it. A woman, by the age of twenty-two I'd assume, tall, in a purple dress. She was contemplating what she had seen, I suppose. New to the business.
"Come in, Miss...?" I asked while extending a hand.
"Muh..muh muh ms." She stuttered.
"Tea?" I offered her. She took a sip, flashed a smile, and said "Thanks."

After we had both taken a seat, and gotten comfortable I asked her. "You seemed scared by the Nosferatu. Are you new to our industry?"
She looked a bit unsettled and mumbled "Yes."
"Aha, I figured. As you saw of me, they're nothing to fear. All you need to do is put them in their place. Vampires, Werewolves, Humans, they're all alike. If you show weakness, they'll exploit you. As a bit of advice, you must remember; as a denizen of this planet, it is your duty to send the impure of the dead, and the evil, to suffer eternal punishment."
She smiled again, and said "Amen." She laughed lightly and began to loosen up. "They all said that you were one of the best in our field. I guess now I know they were right."I grew uneasy. I knew that when she said they, that she was a messenger. And that always meant I was going to be shipped right into the hands of disaster.
"This brings me to my next point." She continued. "The division has been losing members left and right on the front lines. As such, you've been pulled out of management, and are now being re-assigned as a fully fledged...hunter."
There it was. The kiss of death. She seemed to be cheery about it towards the start, as if I'd be happy to spill blood again. But she quickly lost her demeanor and actually turned away towards the end when she saw the look on my face.
"I...I'm sorry this is happening to you, but as you well know, our agency has fallen on hard times."
For the first time she looked straight into me. I lurched instinctively. Her eyes were blood red, a sign of a
"Vampire." She nodded and spoke with a heavy tone, "I'm actually not new to this agency. I'm Senior Officer Jaffa. On duty, a nosferatu got the best of our squad, and...well...I...it...I'm sorry, but I must be leaving now." she rushed. "Your first order of business is all listed in this package. God speed my friend." She rushed out the door.
"Wait!" I yelled after her. But it was too late, she had left and didn't think once of turning back. I suppose she was truly a creature of the night now. I walked back into my dimly lit office and sat down on the chair. It creaked as I leaned back a little while attempting to open the grubby package she handed me.

I spilled its contents on the desk. Several photos, video cassette, a letter, but the thing which truly caught my eye was a new clip of silver bullets. That told me what I would be facing. Vampires. The pictures included floor plans of the installation, pictures of the house from various angles, and even photos of the old owners, looking happy. I placed the cassette into a piece of junk I call a TV. Through the fuzzy black and white image I was able to discern that it was a news clip of some sort.
"What mysteries are contained in this old house? Well this reporter is brave enough to find out." A cocky old rabbit with slicked back grey hair and a trench coat was standing outside of the gates of a manor. It was night out, and lightly raining.
"My brave crew is going into the ol' Greenthorpe mansion, to find out if it really is haunted, and to quell these rumors once and for all, live at channel eight news." The camera man followed the host up the garden and through the path leading up to the front door of the manor.
"Huh...puh...why must this hill be so steep?" the camera man muttered. As they made it to the large wooden door, the host drew an axe and hacked his way through the barricade.
"Now we're inside the abandoned mansion and there are no signs of life anywhere." the host said. The camera quickly turned and zoomed in on some decaying rat bodies. "Uhh, Mr. Berkly...." he uttered. "What is i...what...the..." the host replied. "They're dead. Dead rats. They...must be trying to live off of each other! That's it. Now, let's come over here." he beckoned while waving towards a dark corridor.
"This must be the den." he said emerging from the passage into an unlit room. He shined a flashlight across the room. Several beautiful paintings were hung on the walls, deteriorating furniture that had not been used for decades, some unlit candles, and a great brick fireplace.
"The previous owners of this manor, Lawrence and the fair Audry Greenthorpe, were rich people and the original founders of this town." he said while shining his flashlight across the room.
"This must have been where they spent their days in peace." the host continued.

As they came back into the lobby, the host turned to the camera. "Now I'd like to point out our good friends, the local marines."
The camera panned to reveal the armed squad that was following the host. "Now onto the next room." The host pushed open a door into what supposedly looked like a kitchen.
"Here we are at the...oh...my...god" In the room, a dark figure was clutching a rat. It winced at the light.
"CUT THE TRANSMISSION! CUT IT NOW!" The host screamed.
"We're offline." his camera man replied. "Good. Now shoot it." The host bellowed menacingly.
The marines opened fire on the figure, watching it be filled with holes. It immediately went limp.
"Haha, what a little son of guh...hur...uhbuh..." one of the marines started, but was interrupted by his chest being punctured by a steak knife. The camera followed as blood ran out of the guy’s mouth and eyes, all the while being lowered gently to the ground. It panned up to stare directly into the vampire's face, his eyes blank with no pupils or semblance of life. The camera was knocked over and fell to the ground. The audio was knocked offline, but the horror that followed was easy to determine. For about ten seconds there was nothing but blood running across the hard wood floor and seeping into the cracks, and eventually it was filming nothing until it ran out of video. At least I had assumed that. I ejected the film and began to read the letter that came with it.

Dear Alexander Garand,

It is my displeasure to ruin your business with this information, but in case our messenger, the lovely Mistress Jaffa didn't inform you, you have been re-administered to be a hunter. I apologize about this, but you are one of the most battle hardened veterans our development has under its belt, so it was only a matter of time before you'd have to fight again. Now to business. If you haven’t watched the tape, do so now. This cassette was footage from a film taken from the internet. The website that was hosting it was only linked to as a homepage by a new user on a message board, going by the name of Xavier. As is the nature of the internet, the footage was quickly spread throughout the internet, and outlived its bandwidth in 2 hours. The film circulated for at least 48 hours, so countless people have seen it. We're under a full blown investigation, but are coming up empty handed. Be that as it may, this is not your case. You're being assigned to seek out and eliminate this unclassified vampire.

I do hope this won't have any adverse affects on our friendship.

Signed Walter

P.S: The arms department says that have a special order for you laid out somewhere in Prestbury. It was apparently a retirement gift, but during the re-org it was lost.

I sighed. It looks like I wasn't going to be able to worm my way out of this one. Not that I would have. That would be cowardice.

With a yawn, I reached down to pull open one of my desk's drawers. Inside was my old side arm, "Jacob". Completely unusable by a normal person, at 23 pounds and nearly a foot in length. Yes, Jacob had slain many of my adversaries before, and it shall come to my aid again. I loaded up the fresh new case of Silver bullets and cocked the gun out of safety. It was going to be a bumpy ride from this point on, but it'd give me a chance to get out of the office. I quickly gathered my things, threw on a black coat, my glasses, and headed out the door. With one last look at the hole I had been calling home for that last 2 years I walked down the creaky old staircase and out into the cloak of night.

It was a full moon out, and even a novice Hunter wouldn't make such a mistake of traveling. It was even complete with a thunder storm. I didn't care anymore. I walked down the gloomy, dimly lit streets of Down Town Hopteego towards the nearest bus stop. Most people gave me side ways glances as I passed through small crowds of people. I suppose it's to be expected. It's not everyday you see a Four foot Five rabbit. I took off my glasses and wiped them with the corner of my shirt. As I re adjusted them, I continued to walk through the town. Even Hopteego was showing the signs of war. Beggars as young as ten, people crowding around small fires, all of these things dotted the landscape. It seemed that the only profession that a person could live off of was a Death match player or military. Even such great families like the Earlongs and the Jackrabbits feel the impact of the wars. But with Eva's and Jazz's marriage they promised a golden age, and look where we are now. Carrotus is not in good times.

I finally came to the information desk at the bus stop. I went up to the counter and a rather sad looking orange rabbit was sitting there, reading the news paper. I leaned up against the desk and cleared my voice. He jumped and dropped the paper.
"E… evening Sir. What can I do for you?" He said with a shifty look.
"Hey, can I get a map of Greenthorpe and the wilderness between here and there. Also, bus schedules would be nice." I asked politely.
"Certainly sir." He quaked with timidness as he handed me the papers. "But no buses have run to Greenthorpe in ages. We can take you as far as Prestbury, but then you'll have to hoof it. Here are your map sirs." He continued.
"Thank you." I replied.

I checked the schedule. The next bus was to leave in about ten minutes. While I waited I decided I should clean myself up a bit. I looked into a mirror put up on the bus station and combed my blond hair up and re adjusted my glasses. I tucked my shirt into my dress pants and bent over to tie my shoes. After I felt sufficiently groomed I sat down next to an unconscious homeless rabbit and waited. When the bus finally I arrived, I climbed aboard, and deposited four gold coins. It would be a day’s ride to Prestbury, so I got comfortable and sleep came quickly.

"Status report!" A voice screamed in my ear. I leaped awake and looked around panicking. I nearly drew my gun out on a loaded bus, but quickly regained my senses. We were still traveling, and it was about two A.M. Outside the thunder storm grew and it was tormenting rain. It had been long since I used my transceiver, and I had nearly forgotten about it.
"All clear, no engagements yet. No targets seen." I mumbled irritated. I readjusted my seat a little, read the maps and committed them to memory, and dozed off.

The bus came to a halt at Prestbury. After a long day's travel I thanked the driver and left him another two coins. At least Prestbury was faring better than most other towns of Carrotus, and at least it wasn't raining tonight. I continued to walk through the desolate streets of a war torn city, until I came to the office doors of the Prestbury branch of my organization, Schism. It wasn’t much, only a couple of technicians and some administrative work. Inside there was an old purple rabbit wearing a hat, furiously working at the computer. I took one step inside and he immediately spoke.
"Hello Mr. Garand. We've got your package right there. And you appear to have forgotten that we enlist psychics."
"...uh thanks." I stuttered while picking up the parcel.
"A heavy crossbow with 10 bolts. Complete with a wince for pulling the string back. Though I doubt you'll need it much. Good luck." He continued without looking up from his monitor while filing papers with his mind. I opened the package and sure enough, I had a 20 pound cross bow in my lap. I attached the shoulder strap, and looped it around my body. I thanked the receptionist and hurried out the door.

I left the building and walked to the edge of town. A small house lying on the mouth of the wilderness separating Prestbury and Greenthorpe. I walked through the grass and leaped over a rotting wooden fence and into the dark forested area. I instantly felt apprehension. There were dark beings in this forest, I could practically feel them. Ghouls, and werewolves were in control of this wilderness, but it was the shortest route to Greenthorpe. I pulled out Jacob, and walked forward. My feelings were confirmed as I heard the familiar howling of wolves in the distance. Taking caution in every step, I readied my gun and inched my way through the forest. I came to a river and suddenly, I heard a twig snap. Before I knew it, the wolves had me surrounded. Hideous creatures with dog like faces but a humanoid body. Their skin was black and as hard as leather, but their minds were entirely feral. "Back off. All of you freaks. These bullets are not meant for you." I hissed through my teeth. I aimed my handgun at one of them. It froze, in place and cocked its face at me. With a single pull of the trigger, a loud bang echoed through the forest. The wolf’s headless body sprayed black blood like a fountain as it fell limp on the ground. The others crawled up to their dead comrade and sniffed his body. I took the opportunity to rush ahead and put as much distance between me and them. I raced through the trees, panting, and hoping that they wouldn't catch up to me. Nobody can outrun a werewolf in full stride.

"Report." a voice over the comscever demanded.
"I'm being. Engaged. By hostile. Werewolves. Trying. To. Escape." I huffed.
"Do you require assistance?" The voice asked.
"Not yet." I gasped. I could hear the pads on their feet bounding across the forest in pursuit. Suddenly, I was flying. With a painful crack I came crashing down to the earth, lying in a pool of mud. I quickly turned over, my body exhausted. I aimed my gun up.

Chapter eight: Solitary confinement by Cobra.

It was time for a new era of her life to begin, she could tell. The waters in front of her showed no changes in her reflection other than the wounds time was slowly carving into her, but she could feel it lurking somewhere between her shoulder blades. A lazy finger was pulled through the water enough to distort the transparent reflection, and then an angry fist shattered it.
Of course things would change once a final peace and solace was found. The cycles of life would not stop for a mere mortal no matter how much pleading was done. Good would be overcome by evilness, but the darkness would too pass like the darkness of the night. They had taught her of balance well.
For it was at a school of balance that she was staying, if it could be called a school. The word monastery fit it better, or at least the practice of stoicism made it feel like a place of monks. Life was lived to the fullest through the simplest of things deep within the ancient hallways buried deep within Chrystalis. How ironic that a people of humility and modesty chose the most shimmering of planets as their home.
It was a fitting place to live, and if fate would let it, she would have happily called it a fitting place to die. But amongst her brothers and sisters (as they called all of the participants) there were whispers and divinations of a change in the life of them all, and that soon enough more than half would be gone. Not that she really believed the divinations, it was a hazy practice started by rabbits who enjoyed staring into the swirling waters of the river instead of staring at runes of virtue. Few accepted them as true, and they most often were incorrect.
But even the unreliability of the waters could not calm the gut feeling she had. So she rose from the glittering shore and started down the smooth hallway, occasionally lit by faint murmurs of candles that cast gold explosions through the crystal. Past the rooms of pale sunless plants, past the greenhouse filled with pale sprouts that would soon wither if not harvested soon, the path took her.
How long had she been down here? Long enough to shackle the emotions that once ravaged her long ago. Now she even had control over her subconscious and didn’t even dream. Or so it had been up till a week ago, then strange dreams started plaguing her mind. One of the brothers had suggested she spend some time at the waters to see if they could lend any help, so all her time had been spent roaming the banks of the rivers. But this had only further cemented her disbelief in the aquatic divination. It was a diversion though, and a pretty one at that.
All of her siblings of the order had already gone into the bed rooms, simple rooms of golden crystal pocked by rectangles carved into it, each box big enough to hold just one rabbit of average size. It was a coffin-like bedroom for a corpse-like person. Indeed, that was what they all were. Void of feelings and expressions, each with a blank look upon their sleeping faces.
They had been so kind to take her in all those ages ago. Every night when she would wake up writhing and clawing at her own skin one of her siblings would be there for her. They would read the runes to her, and she would drift off peacefully into the numbness of sleep. Once the dreams stopped coming to her, they moved her to the chamber with her other siblings.
At first it was difficult to adjust to the lightless halls and nearly-mirror like crystals. But over time her eyes grew to be permanently dilated and capable of seeing through the haze of reflections and shadows. The sprouts they grew and the water they drank had nearly magical properties, encouraging the body’s natural adaptation to lightlessness.
So into her box she slid, on her back with the ceiling barely skimming her nose. The founding siblings said that peace of mind could be found when the body was at peace, so the sleep chambers were made as small as possible to restrict movement. She used to wake up with bruises on her forehead and knees every morning, but over time the calm of the school smothered the desires to lash out in her sleep. There was to be no trust in emotions, they said. Emotions could be the cause of childhood trauma, hormonal fluxes, or even possible head injuries. They caused people to war, rabbits to rage, and the problems of the world. It was encouraged that they tell themselves this every night before sleep; supposedly it influenced the subconscious to slumber. But it seemed to make the whole brain sleep; it was as if thoughts were a sin of the utmost evil. Before coming, she had never though herself to be capable of actually thinking nothing for long periods of time, but now it was all she could do. Time didn’t exist; there was no hurry, no change in life aside from the waters. And even the swirls of minerals in the water seemed to be curling and fading in the same patterns.
The sudden thought of those hypnotic waves seemed to overload her brain and sleep suddenly stole her clarity of thoughts away. It had been so long since she had actually been able to control her thoughts, it was a shame.

Sleep’s hold on her was weaker this night it seemed. Ever since the dreams had started, her sleep had been weaker. She was afraid to go to her siblings with her problem though, out of fear of being told of her emotional weakness. That fear had been installed in her subconsciously, and she knew it plagued all her siblings as well. They were supposed to be in control of themselves.
So when she suddenly jolted out of a nightmare and her skull made a dull thud against the ceiling, she didn’t cry out. She had been dreaming about the waters. They had pulled her in and brought her to a place where there was wind, oh how she had loved the wind. Dancing in the wind were the same shimmering crystal swirls as there were in the water. The crystals seemed to slink together in lines, and it seemed like she was in a mass of shimmering snakes. It was so beautiful, even for someone in the heart of Chrysalis. For the first time since her early weeks there, she cried.
It was if finally all the cosmic dice had rolled her a reason to burst out with emotions. How long had she been there without an emotion on her face? How long had it been since she had smiled? Surely there was nobility in the suppression of everything pleasurable, but what was wrong with smiling just this once?
So she tried. In this barely-awake stage, she dove into her memories. Something happy was needed. But everything seemed to just be flashes, just flickers that died too fast. There were some people laughing. A little bunny with her short hair pulled up into little spiky pigtails. Was that her? The coloring seemed right. But that couldn’t be her, she didn’t remember it.
And then her body convulsed with sobbing. She threw herself out of her box and hit the floor, hitting her left arm against the ceiling with a pain that tore up into her shoulder. Her haggard, lung-searing breaths she tried to still while wide-eyed she tore her eyes across the room looking for anyone awake, but they were all asleep.
She needed to go someplace where no one would see her. She pulled her robes closer, in hopes of keeping the sound of the fabric to a minimal. She skittered into the hall, the slight click of her nails ringing in her ears and tearing at her nerves. Down the hall, maybe into the room filled with the plants? No, that was too close, they might hear her. The water called to her.
Although the stoic in her told her to go back to bed and to spend more ages in a conscious coma, the child she had awakened chose to ignore the mist in her mind. She could always justify it by claiming she had to divan something. So it was to the waters she went, and she didn’t just go to the pretty golden bowls set by the river that were used to divan. She pulled off her robes, crumpled them up and put them behind the bowl. Even though they all slept at the same time, she was afraid of being caught.
How long did she stand up by the water? She knew she had to go in, or perhaps she’d never have this day again. Perhaps time was pulling at her again. So she threw judgment to the wind and did not just step in, but she threw herself in.
The sudden ability to breath was stolen away and she floundered in the purple stream. She was able to gasp for air just before the seemingly peaceful water’s undertow caught her and pulled her under and away from the shore. Her eyes were opened in the water, and she felt strangely calm aside from the burning in her lungs. The minerals in the water were swirling around almost just like her dream. Except now the minerals didn’t look so beautiful, in fact they looked quite powdery. She reached out a paw into one of the strands of powder, and all of the clumps clung to her fur and…was it burning? Was not her fur withering and the skin beneath it blistering and turning white?
This perplexed her greatly, and as she was wondering why the previously glittery waters were now wild and silt-filled, the waters brought her up. But they brought her up to a roof of sorts with no air. Her paws grasped at it in hopes of finding air, but she was only driven against it more, her head knocking against it. But the force of the water kept pulling her to the right, and the roof ended. She gasped for breath in a room she had never seen before.

About three of her siblings were in an unpolished room, the floor dusted with a slightly greenish powder. More of the powder was in ugly molding barrels around the room. They had been pouring the barrels into the water, but stopped when she appeared.
She raised her hand up to show the leprous hand with fear in her eyes, but no help was offered. “Brothers, what is this?” she cried, with too much emotion. She pulled herself towards the shore, but once her good paw touched the shore encrusted with the powder, it started burning even more than before. The skin wasn’t just blistering and turning white; it was bubbling and melting into a bloody valley. She had to let go, it hurt too much. Into the water she went again, the coolness offering some comfort but the now-paste still etching into her.
Arms wearing special gloves pulled her up. Her feet were dragged a bit against the powder, setting the nerves aflame and she screamed. They kept dragging her, into a room where there was no powder, just large vials of an amber-hued liquid. One of her siblings grabbed one of the vials from off the wall and proceeded to envelope her with the surprisingly thick liquid that smelled of vinegar. The bubbling stopped and the pain faded to a dull ache.
The brothers started arguing. She couldn’t hear too much through her water (and goo) filled ears, but she heard something about “can’t let this out” and “end this”, which are never good things to hear. Her eyes darted around the room, and rested upon one of the labels. Beneath the mold and dank mildew that streaked the tattered paper label it said “Jade Dawn” She had a feeling that she should know what this was.
OH! It had come back to her. Something about a war. Her sister had been a scientist, and they were studying a new form of chemical warfare. Jade Dawn was the code name for a poison powder that could be put into enemy camps water systems and placate them without any permanent damage. However, the shelf life was very low, and it was found that within two months of production the powder would lose its simple knockout affect and cause brain damage to anyone exposed to it. When mixed with water, the effects were doubled. It was quickly banned from all war zones and production was stopped in favor of making some other kind of poison. Something pink, she had forgotten what it was.
…They were poisoning them? Suddenly it made sense how life had been a blur, how they could all sleep without dreams. Also, it explained why no one left. A sudden wave of betrayal swept over her. They weren’t really trying to help her; they were trying to turn her and every other rabbit there into a robot.
They pulled her up and threw some robes about her, then marched her out of the room on bleeding paws, her fur dripping amber fluid as she went. They went through another room filled with barrels, and into a corridor of doors. For a moment they let go of her, each to fish into his pocket, most likely for a key.
Fate smiled on her. She jerked backwards and ran with the fear of an animal. Back through the room of amber. Back through the room of powder. Into the water she dove, trying to fight against the current. But it was stronger than her, and just pulled her through more tunnels. Her mind reeled from this information, she had to get out, she had to get everyone out.
Wait. The river pulled her into a familiar room, the room where this had all started. The waters ebbed, and she was able to heave her waterlogged self onto the smooth ground. She wanted to lie there, but she knew she had to tell the others. So she pulled herself up and set towards the door, her diaphragm aching, eyes watering, and breaths coming out shallow and rapid. The wet robes dragged, her feet bled, and she wanted to just give up. But she had to go on. No longer was this a haven to flee to, but an enemy to hide from. Into the room where they all slept. She started grabbing robes and pulling the sleeping people to the floor.
“Beloved siblings, I have discovered a grave secret. Our brothers have been lying to us; the crystals we divan from are not a gift from the divine but Jade Dawn, a poison that dulls our senses and weakens our brains. Before I came here and started consuming this venomous water, I knew what this did. Siblings, I am not lying! Please, hear me out.” She pleaded, but they just stared back emotionlessly. “Sister, you need to sleep. You are getting emotional. Your dreams give you false emotions.” One of her sisters said, crawling back into her bed box. The others wordlessly agreed and also went to bed.
She screamed. All logic left her, and she stood alone on the floor, with blood streaming from her wounds and the sensitive flesh of her ears. Nothing could be gained from it, but too much was happening. Too many emotions were flooding. Images were coming back. It was as if now she knew what the poison was; now she could fight it.
She ran. She had to get out. Maybe if she saw the outside world, she could help them. But how did she leave? She had to get down here somehow. But that was so long ago, so many ages ago that she had been trying to forget. It was in her mind somewhere and in these halls somewhere. She’d start by going to the bedchamber of the new recruits.
So she thudded along the hallways, occasionally skidding due to the water left by her robes. The room was hard to find, she walked by it twice. Once inside, she found that there were no new recruits. Odd, she could have sworn that there were more…
But then the siblings from the room with the barrels stepped out at her. They were wearing protective suits, and holding little grenade-like white balls with a five-pointed green flower on it, the symbol of Jade Dawn.
She knew it was coming but her reflexes were too numb to do anything other than blindly try to charge past them. One of the grenades exploded, white powder filling the room. She closed her eyes and raised her arms expecting sudden pain, but none hit her. She thanked whoever was watching over her, and kept running, hearing them shouting behind her but not stopping to listen. She wasn’t that stupid.
There was an odd room in front of her. It was very small, only big enough to hold about six rabbits, with an odd lever of sorts. It struck her as familiar, but it took her a while to realize that it was an elevator. Sudden strength was given to her as she dove into it and pulled the lever. The chains pulling it screeched and made her already bleeding ears ring. She couldn’t handle it, she fell to her knees and put her aching hands to her aching ears.
It was almost slow motion as she painfully raised her eyes to see them bearing down the hall upon her, but the lift was almost half up. It was gaining momentum, thankfully, and she would soon be hidden from them by the ceiling. But fate would not be so kind to her as to let her escape, one of them threw a Jade bomb into the elevator with her just before the ceiling closed her off.
She panicked. The room was now completely closed off. She tried to force it down the space between the lift and the wall but it wouldn’t fit. Her eyes filled with tears as she pulled it into her hands to try to disarm it but it was a solid piece of work that would not open to her. Fearful eyes tore over the elevator looking for a place to hide, but nowhere was there any escape. Maybe she could get off the elevator before it exploded? It was going very fast…
A sudden cloud of white blocked her vision with a click as the bomb went off. Her fingers were singed from the explosion, and otherwise she felt fine, for a moment. But the protective endorphins wore off all too soon, and her previously fine feeling eyes felt like someone was putting burning needles deep into them.
Animal like screams escaped her lips as she fell over and tore at her eyes, trying to either stop the pain or remove them altogether. She felt the elevator stop moving, and she rolled out of the elevator, onto her back.
Through the static-like stars filling her eyes, she saw something she hadn’t seen in years. The stars. The sky was a deep royal blue filled with diamonds so fantastic. She hadn’t seen them in so many years. Tears started mixing with the blood and the poison in her eyes and she felt sobs rising in her soul. She extended her arms to feel the ground, a rocky composition of crystals and sand, but something she hadn’t felt in years. She closed her eyes for a moment to breath in the dry air when she felt the wind. The glorious wind, pulling at her fur and caressing her lips.
It was so beautiful. It was so alive. It suddenly made everything she had gone through worth it. She was alive; she was a part of this beauty now.
She tried to open her eyes, to see her beautiful sky one more time.. It didn’t work, so she raised her fingers to rub them but stopped and recoiled with a cry when she felt the open sores on her eyes. Her lids were not down. She had opened them. She couldn’t see.
And on that deserted stretch of land, beside a broken down elevator, she curled up and wept like a child, her soft cries carried off in the beloved wind.

Chapter nine: A Suprise Visit by Spaztic

"Pardon me, but I think your ship is on fire."
A slender, golden-furred rabbit paused in her exchange amongst friends and turned to address the interruption. With a wry smirk she replied, "Is this how you usually start conversations?" The black rabbit before her disguised a smile as his indigo eyes glistened for a moment. And for a moment hers paused to study his face. Was that recognition?
"Your ship - out in the parking garage. License TOL42?” he responded, taking a moment to glance and admire her friends. He sensed they'd had a little more than a few drinks this evening. The girl's stare turned from buzz-induced amusement into slightly more sober concern. Perfect.
With one of her eyebrows raised she quietly replied, "That's mine. It's... on fire?", as if he hadn't just said it was. The black rabbit nodded in a melodramatically rueful way. The girl looked despairingly at the ceiling and swore. "My father will be so angry!" The black rabbit hid a grin, grabbed her hand, and began to drag her through the small circles of people out of the door into the breezy night air.
"We were coming in when we discovered the problem. You must have left your lights on and caused an electrical fire, but there are already some out there putting it out." The girl didn't say anything back. She looked dazed and was walking rather clumsily. Peering back, the black rabbit spotted her friends back in the same place. He imagined they shrugged and ordered another round of drinks. Some friends. He was doing her a favor, really. Yes.
Half way to the parking garage he stopped walking and tried to catch his breath. "What are doing?" demanded the girl, "Why have we stopped?" She wasn't quite sober enough to realize standing here while her ship was allegedly on fire was not a good choice for priorities.
After a short moment the interrupter looked up at the girl and grinned playfully. "It's been quite a number of years, Naomi, but I never envisioned you ever letting me hold your hand again." Sobriety suddenly flooded in and Naomi came to her senses.
"Icarus? Icarus, you fool!" she cried out and pushed him back. "What are you doing here? My father told you never to come near me again!" She seemed perplexed and apprehensive, but underneath Icarus sensed something of the old days, when they had often snuck out of their houses to sit with each other under the stars, before Icarus was falsely accused of killing his own family. Despite the charges proving false, Naomi's father never trusted Icarus again.
"Oh, there it is again! You see, my lovely Naomi, it is always about your father, isn't it? Your father's ship being ruined, your father believing murderous conspiracies, your father doing whatever. It's how you have always been. When will you grow out of that and come with me?" By now Icarus had moved in a little closer and was staring at her pleadingly. She loosened up from the shock. He hadn't tracked down this girl only for her to reject him.
Naomi sighed and looked towards the sky. "You don't understand," she said, "it -is- all about my father when it comes to you. He doesn't trust you, Icarus. And frankly I don't even know who you are anymore. I thought when you left for Diamondus all those years ago that I'd never see you again. I've been so worried with the news from there, though. What have you been doing?"
"I've been helping in the relief effort, unofficially. I help find people who want to escape on a private flight, then me and a buddy of mine transfer them to where they want to go for quite a substantial fee. I've gotten quite rich. Our latest drop-off was to Carrotus, and I had to come see you again. I had to see if you would go with me."
Naomi bit her lip. "Go with you? Where? You know I can't just suddenly run off, especially with you..."
"And why is that, Naomi? Oh, that's right! Because of your father. There it is again. You are responsible for yourself now, so come with me! We need to take one trip back to Diamondus to find anyone else who wants to leave, and then I am going to find a small town in Carrotus where I can settle down again and find real work. I don't even need to make a living with all of the money I've earned, Naomi; I just want a normal life." Icarus reached down and found her hand again. "Please, come with me."
Naomi was lost in a sea of doubt and confusion. This had all come upon her so suddenly, but she did have a desire to run off. The chain of her father had gotten too bothersome to ignore long ago, she wanted to break free. Moreover, she knew this is exactly the way he had wanted her to feel. He knew she would give in to him, and she knew this was her time to go. After a moment she sighed again and said, "Alright, I'll go."
"Great, because I didn't have a ship..."

Chapter ten: The First Survivor by Coppertop

The flames burned, so bright, so deadly. They consumed his home, his family, and his innermost being.
Jesse Aimon watched the blaze dispassionately, not wondering if anyone but him had escaped. He knew they hadn't. He was the mistake. He should not have lived.
"Jesse? Oh, Jesse," the usually amiable Miss Savon cried out, rushing towards him across the flame-lit lawn. She had been their neighbor for three years. She was also a spy.
Jesse said nothing, and her false joy at his escape faltered. He privately admitted that she was a very good actress; her feigned horror was very realistic.
"However did you escape," she said with a trace of disapproval, ostensibly directed at the fire storm that had been Jesse's life. The quiet 17-year old gave her a hollow look, and she fell silent for a moment.
It had most likely been her who had lit the fire.
Now she shook her head. "I always told your father that his contrary ideas would get him into trouble," she said. "And now look. Come, Jesse, you can stay with me."
And be murdered in his bed. Jesse's previously directionless anger crystallized. He shook his head firmly and pulled away violently when Miss Savon tried to take his arm. He remained where he was despite her coercions.
She left eventually, but Jesse stood and watched until the fire burned itself out and all that was left was a charred husk, devoid of all life, scattered around with glowing embers.

When dawn came the tall, lanky, white furred teenager turned his back on the destruction and walked away wordlessly. The neighbours watched him go, but no one tried to persuade him otherwise. None of them wanted to end up like the Aimons, which they knew they would if they interfered. As long as they stayed uninvolved, they reasoned, the war could not possibly touch their small town. They would remain unaffected.
None of them wanted to admit that the war had already reached them. The Aimons were only the first casualties, and Jesse the first survivor.

- Round 2 -

Chapter 11: And so it all begins by SlaYo

Marjorie slowly recovered over the next few days, thanks to the good care of the innkeeper and his wife. ‘The green dragon’ had not been busy and no more than three merchants occupied the rooms. A few of the older hares from town had gathered around to play cards and talk about the situation on Diamondus. The wife of the innkeeper was sweeping the floor and Louie was helping her husband carry some kegs of Ale to the cellar. “One more and we’ll be done with these, thanks for your help.”
Louie didn’t reply, the work made a nice change from sitting around while waiting for the girl to recover. As the last keg was installed in the cellar, the men stopped and the innkeeper offered the vampire a smoke. “No thank you, I have been having a little trouble breathing lately.”
Upstairs, Majo had woken up after a good night’s rest finding a bowl of porridge waiting on her night stand. She was feeling rather well, but enjoyed the luxury of having food, water and a warm bed at absolutely no expense. The vampire covered all of her expenses and was there whenever she needed him to be. After eating a few spoons full of porridge she got up and rung the bell.
Louie showed up mere moments later, with a small, yellow flower in his hand. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” His face revealed little, no sign of any interest or empathy. He put the flower on the end of the bed and sat down next to it.
“I decided that I want to leave this room today and take a little walk. Would you like to accompany me?” Her voice lifted up his spirits and seemed to find its way into the thick exterior he had formed over the many years he was alone in that large house. He actually smiled on the inside.
“Yes, I think I would enjoy a change of scenery, even if only momentarily.”

"..Governor Pneumeth of the To'Adin province on Diamondus has advised its citizens to stay indoors during the evening, as the situation on Diamondus grows worse. Many people have lost their lives since the civil war started three months ago and there still seems to be..."
The newsreader held her hand against her earpiece; she looked at several people who were standing behind the cameras off-screen. "Oh..." She seemed at a loss for words and clumsily shuffled the paperwork in front of her. “Ladies and…”

"Turn up the volume Jake." A man in the back of the inn yelled. The innkeeper reached for the remote control under the bar, and was able to turn up the volume before the newsreader could continue. The attractive and slender young fox was still at a loss for words, but took a deep breath and continued the show. "My apologies for the interruption, we just received the news that the southern army has moved on to the city of Depada. General Necra has started an attack on the north, word has received us that this attack is fully supported by the government of the south, we now go live to our reporter in Nari, several miles to the west of Depada. Jonah, are you there?"

An elderly, white furred lynx appeared on the screen, the people in the bar were very silent, including Louie and Majo who, after their little venture outside, were now sitting in two small wooden chairs at a table in the back. Louie had ordered a glass of water, not to cause too much suspicion. He took advantage of the moment; all of the people in the bar were staring at the screen, so he quickly emptied his glass in the vase that stood in the middle of the table. The dry bundle of flowers in it looked like it could use it more than him. Majo whispered "I'm a little scared, what if it escalates into an all out interplanetary war."
She wanted to be comforted, but it fell on deaf ears. Louie just looked at the TV, it seemed that they were having some problems with the audio, which is understandable, this was live broadcasting from only a few miles from the warzone, the young reporter stood in front of a big building, he looked into the camera without any sign of fear on his face, the grip on his microphone was firm and steady, he was waiting for the audio problem to be fixed, while a few headlines were rolling through the bottom of the screen. " Situation on Diamondus has escalated, attack on Depada. Gary Parker running candidate for the governorship of Peddleburg. Earian Thunder wins the Carrotus Cup after a nerve-wrecking final against the Farodine Blizzards. "
An old and grumpy fox came back from the toilet.”Darn it, how long does it take those idiots to fix an audio problem? Change the channel." "Easy Ted, have a beer on me." The innkeeper yelled back at the grumpy man. He had a couple of relatives and close friends living in Nari. He accepted the foaming lager with a little, fake smile. Being grateful for the moral support shown and sat down in his seat. He was offered a cigarette by the woman sitting next to him and accepted it with a shivering hand. The innkeeper had a strict policy about people not being allowed to smoke in his bar, but when Ted looked at him he nodded in agreement, in situations like these, one should not be too strict.

"Thanks Jenny, I’m here." The young man said, the audio problem had been fixed.
"Hello Jonah, has the president of the Northern front given an official reaction yet?" Jonah shook his head. "No, the president is currently in a meeting with several ministers of his council, but the minister of the media has informed us that he will give a speech to the people of the north tonight.
He moved out of Depada as soon as the news reached him, word is that he has moved to Nincada, where the spaceport is located and he might leave for Carrotus later today."
"And king Jazz, has he given a reaction yet?"
"He has not, he will give his reaction soon however. We do not have a lot of information yet, it is told that there were a lot of northern troops stationed in Kathmana, which is the closest military base from here, the troops have been mobilized and will arrive here in a matter of hours. We will be leaving for Nincada soon; the station has called us back."
"Thank you Jonah.”

The people in the bar started talking, within a breath, the silence was broken, and everybody found someone to talk too.
Majo put her hand on Louie's, she shivered at the touch of the coldness of his skin, he enjoyed the warm flesh covering his hand, he could not hide that he was slightly worried, concerned for the wellbeing of the people on Diamondus. He looked at her, she was close to crying, everyone in the bar but he looked moved, sad and angry. "Calm down, let me get you another drink." He said in that same indifferent tone. He did an incredible good job at hiding his feelings was the first thing that came to Majo's mind.
Louie got up and walked to the bar, that damn government he had heard so much about could care less about the well-being of it's people. It had always been like this, the king had lost sight over the many who roamed his planet. He had given to much power to his cabinet, filled with people you couldn't trust. Tobias had warned him this would happen. His stomach was restless, a sign of his hunger. Louie quickly walked over to the bar. "I'd like a glass of the strongest ale you have... and a water please." He looked around, seeing if no one noticed him, the only two people looking at him were the little girl and Majo.
"Here you go buddy, it's on me. I can see that your girlfriend over there is in quite a shock." The friendly, old bartender said.
"Thanks sir, that is very generous of you." Louie said just as he felt a terrible sharp pain in his stomach. His body shook and his pupils slowly faded.
"Are you ok buddy?" Jake asked him worried.
"Yes, i have to go... to the toilet.
Jake pointed at a small door in the back, decorated with a flower and the word 'hares' in fancy letters underneath it.
Louie stumbled to the door, pushed it open with his shoulder and fell into the toilet.
It was a small but clean place, with three Shakelsbee urinoirs and three small fountains shaped like a turtle’s shell, for washing your paws.
He looked around, he had a highly evolved scent and could smell a prey from miles away, he noticed a very thin rat crawling in trough a hole in the far corner underneath one of the small fountains.
Louie got up and immediately fell on the floor again, he reached out his hand for the rat and tightly squeezed his paw around it, he could feel the rat's small rib cage cracking in his hand, put it to his mouth and let his life's juices flow down his throat. His pupils became clear again, and his canine teeth returned to their normal size.
He got up and threw the rats corpse out of the small window above the urinoir in the middle of the room, turned to his left, he washed the disgusting scent of the rats fur off of his hands and looked up. As he gazed into the mirror he saw nothing but the wall behind him and the blood red corners of his mouth. He leaned over the fountain for a moment and then decided it was time to return, he would be good to go for another three hours now. The meal was small, but sufficient for the time being

King Jazz walked through the great halls of Simic Palace, followed by ten guards, Yorek Stork, his minister of foreign affairs and Nick Hill, minister of warfare. He was tired and he was getting too old, he could not make a good enough distinction between friend and foe anymore and therefor his cabinet was filled with slimey lowlifes.
Dozens of reporters and cameramen were waiting in the conference room for the king to arrive and answer the questions they had to ask.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the king." One of the royal guards shouted trough the room as king Jazz walked in.
Everyone in the room stood up, as Jazz Jackrabbit made his way over the red carpet and sat down in front of them, behind a large oak table, covered by a white cloth and three microphones, one for him, and one for Yorek Stork to his left, and Nick Hill to his right.
"Please, be seated." King Jazz said as he sank back into his chair. His back hurt, he wanted to get this over with. "You there, the young man with the glasses. First question."
The small turtle got up; he stared at the king behind his big glasses with sharp eyes. "Gene Berry, Turtle Gazet, are there any plans to send Carrotian forces to Diamondus, sir?"
"We have no intentions of becoming involved in the war mister Berry. You there, next question." The reporters shook their heads, Diamonus was a dying planet.
"Nadine Harefeathers, The daily carrot, are there any plans on giving refugee to the citizens of Diamondus, sir?" The king took a small sip of water, most of it ran down his thick white beard. "We have offered the citizens of cities in the north refugee on Medieval, our first moon. Refugee camps will be set up there; we will also set up a camp in and around the Peddleburg woods, a refugee camp to the north of New Carrotus and to the north of Oakloma. You there..."

Louie took two golden coins out of his bag and gave them to their kind host. "This should take care of the costs." The innkeepers’ mouth fell open, he was stunned. A man who paid for a few drinks and a couple of nights of room with a couple of golden coin was surely a unique sight. He then walked over to Majo. "We have to leave; I need a proper meal before I go to sleep."
“Thank you for everything, kind sir.” The innkeeper shook his head and gave Marjorie three kisses on her cheek and shook the vampires hand firmly. “Good luck on your travels.”
Louie took Majo’s hand in his; he would have to take good care of her to prevent her from further harm. Together they walked out into the cold evening.

"Where should we go?" Majo asked Louie.
The vampire was unsure, people should have gotten suspicious over the disappearance of Theodore, but none of them could have any idea of the man who was responsible for this horrible act.
It was a judgment call, but he gave in to the better voice in his head.
"We have to return to Greenthorpe, the mansion is big enough to hold at least a hundred refugees." Louie said. "That is very noble of you Louie, but don't the people over there know you? From what I’ve heard of those children, the people in Greenthorpe are very suspicious.”
Louie reached for his pocket and retrieved the bag full of coin he had used to pay the innkeeper.
"Here, you take this, when we reach Greenthorpe, I want you to go to the city council and see what you can do about reacquiring my mansion.” He looked at the bag of money again; this was most likely the only way to get his mansion back. Dead people do not inherit what used to belong to them when they were alive. “This should be more than enough." He said confident. "Let's rest here, you must be tired, it has been a long day. Majo lay down next to the river; Louie took off his coat and neatly folded it up before placing it under her head. "There you go, sleep well."
She kissed the cold flesh of his cheek. "You too." She said.

Majo soon fell asleep, the stars filled up the sky and they looked like small white pinpricks in the big blanket that covered the planet.
Louie made sure she slept, he was in need of blood, but he could not leave her here, something might happen. He felt a need to protect her, so he decided to eat some of the smaller creatures he could find around here. A bird chirped on a branch behind him, he pretended not to pay attention to the bird, but in a flash he turned around and jumped for the branch, wrapping his index finger and thumbs around its little neck, snapping it in a quick movement, he gulped down its life juices. They would be enough to fight off the hunger for another few hours. He stared around, ever so patiently as he stood in the field, just looking for twenty minutes until he discovered his prey. The ultimate prey, a true feast for a vampire.
A wild boar, slowly moved his fat legs trough the muddy forest trail, carefully Louie waited behind a bush until it came close enough. "Just a few more steps, come on." He jumped on the back of the boar that started squealing loudly. "Shut up you dumb thing." The boar pushed the vampire off of its back and wanted to run away. The vampire was too fast however and grabbed the beast by its leg.
The board didn’t give up easily and tried to pin the vampire down with its tusk.
A small fight later the boar gave up and Louie buried his fangs in the thick hide around its neck.
After he was satisfied he walked back to Majo, picking small bits of hair from his teeth and fell asleep next to her.

Majo woke up the next morning, the rays of sunlight falling on her face, Louie was still sleeping, she looked at him, he had changed a great deal.
His flesh felt warmer, his fur was soft, it was so nice to touch. She couldn’t help herself and let her hand slide over his strong chest, she gave him a soft kiss in the neck. Majo knew she should not be doing this, but he was irresistible as he lay there, she didn't know why, but he seemed more attractive than ever before. This was the gift of the blood that was hard to explain to anyone, vampire or not. Majo walked over to the creek and took off her clothes, a long flowery dress that covered up her attractive figure. She stepped into the cold water of the creek. The feeling of the water flowing over her naked body felt lovely and she closed her eyes as she submerged herself.
"We should leave in a moment, we have a great deal to take care of and I need a newspaper." Louie said.
"What the...” Majo crossed her arms to cover up her chest. "Couldn't you at least have given me a warning?”
"Your reaction would have been the same wouldn't it?" He said "But I’ll avert my eyes now." He turned around giving her a chance to get dressed. She was an attractive young lady and if he weren’t a vampire he’d be rather out of breath.
Marjorie got out of the water and shook the droplets of water out of her fur, before getting back into her clothes.

They arrived in Greenthorpe a few hours later, Louie bought a newspaper at the stand, he fit in better now, without the scars and the paleness. They bought a pair of sunglasses and a felt hat, it looked rather silly but it got the job done. According to ‘The Greenthorpe trumpet’, the war had was now full scale, fights were going on in and around Depada, the first large transportation ships had been send to Diamondus to pick up the refugees, but the news of the war did not shock Louie as much as the other news he read. They were going to tear down his mansion to make room for a factory.
He let the newspaper fall from his hands and sat down against a tree. Marjorie picked it up and read the article. "They can't do this." She said shocked. "That isn't fair, what about the refugees, those poor people. And you, it's the place you grew up in, you've spend your life there."
Louie had mixed feelings about this, it was his house, and he had spend ages in there, that is why he hated it, and he wanted it to be pulled down, but on the other hand, there were people who needed it at the moment. The second reason was more important to him, the refugees needed all the room they could get. There was one name that came into mind, the name of the man that always listened to what the people had to say, he came across it in the various newspapers he had stolen from peoples lawns over the recent years, during his nightly hunts for vermin.
“Let’s pay mister Bradhurst a visit.”

"Mister Parker, there are two people over here that are looking for Thomas Bradhurst." Gary Parker's secretary said trough the telephone.
"Yes sir, I will tell them that, yes sir." She put the telephone down. "Mister Parker will be here in a few minutes, please have a seat over there."
Majo thanked her, and she and Louie sat down. The secretary looked up from her paperwork and smiled and Louie, who managed a wry smile.
He then looked at the photographs on the wall, which were probably of the people that worked on this floor, the picture of Thomas Bradhurst hang next to Gary Parker's Photograph.
He was a young man, wearing and old and shabby green tie, and looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. Majo was reading a magazine, and Louie was still looking at the picture, as if he had a precognition that he was going to need to remember what Thomas looked like later on.
"Hello miss, I am Gary Parker." Gary said as he reached for Majo's hand, he was a very charming man.
"Hello sir." She said. "I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find mister Bradhurst. My associate and I wanted to talk to him about the Greenthorpe mansion."
"Well, well." He said and he gave her a cheesy grin. "That place is quiet popular lately. I fear that mister Bradhurst has left for Orleton the other day, but perhaps I could be of assistance."
"No." Louie said immediately. "Thank you for your time, mister Parker."
Majo was puzzled and quickly said her goodbye’s before running after Louie. "Why don’t you want him to help us? He could..." Louie had entered the elevator and Majo jumped in just before the doors slid close. "I know what you want to ask, I sense something about that guy, there is something about him I can’t quiet put my finger on.” Louie paused for a moment, it felt as If something else was present there. Something that he did not understand, a feeling of confusion mixed with fear. “Something tells me we'll be better off discussing this with mister Bradhurst."
"Whatever you want, dear." Majo didn’t understand, perhaps his vampire senses were tingling.
They exited the elevator and were heading for the big rolling doors to exit the building, when two buff looking men in black suits approached them.
The slightly taller one put his hand on Louie's shoulder and slowly but firmly accompanied him to a door to left side of the hallway. “Step this way please, sir. We require a moment of your time.”
"Hey, where are you taking me?" Louie looked over his shoulder; he could see that the other man held a gun pointed at Majo, hidden under his coat. There were several people waiting in the lines in this hall, most of them came here to extend their passport or their identity card.
Some of them had noticed the disturbance and their eyes followed Louie and the guard.
Louie became angry when he saw that Majo was in danger. "I think you should let go now" He told the tall and buff man who didn’t appear to be listening. Louie asked again before he gave him a head stomp against his nose. The guy started cursing as blood ran down his nose and over his lips. Louie could not resist and licked up a small trail that ran down his chin, his hand went for the gun and he grasped it firmly and shot the other buff rabbit trough the head with superhuman precision. Majo screamed as she saw a part of the man's brains and his right ear burst out of his skull and land a bit further away over the bodies of the people waiting in line.
The people started screaming in terror and ran out of the city hall, some tripping over each other in their haste and panic.
"Shut up and get over here Marjorie." Louie said wrapping one of his strong arms around the living buff guy’s neck, as he held the gun to his head.
"Now, you tell me what you and your partner wanted of us, or I’ll make sure that something happens to you that is far worse then what happened to your partner."
"Please, don't, I have my orders, please. I have a family" Louie tightened his grip on the guys neck, and he moved the gun from the side of the guys head down to his balls.
"Now, wouldn't it be painful and messy if i pulled the trigger?" He whispered in the guards’ ear.
"Parker, Parker told me I couldn't let you go, he says he recognized you, please don't shoot them off." Louie got up and put the gun in the back of his pants. "Why should I, you told me everything I needed to know, I guess I’ll just go shoot Mister Parker instead."
The alarm went off, Louie looked at the back wall and saw that one of the employee's had pushed the alarm button, Louie grabbed Majo by the hand and ran towards the exit of the building.
A large iron fence was slowly lowering itself over the front of the building. “Dam it, hold on Marjorie.” The girl had wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her face against his chest.
Just before the iron fence had completely cut off access to the outside, Louie jumped against the glass front of the window and rolled over the ground. Bits of glass cut in his skin and he held his hands over Marjories’ neck and eyes to prevent the glass from cutting through her arteries.
They picked themselves up, the people outside looking at them in panic.
"There, over there, by the pub.” A motorcycle stood next to two horses, tied to the strong, wooden fence. “Damn, no keys, we’ll have to grab the horses.” Louie took the strong rope with which they were tied to the fence and gnawed it through with one strong bite from his jaws.
Quickly they strode towards the forest and away from their assailants.


Gary Parker picked up the phone in his office and dialed the number of the Cholmondely & Smith legal team.
"Jack? Gary here, I think we have a problem." Gary took a bottle of gin out of the little refrigerator under his bureau.
He screwed the cap off with his free hand, took a shot glass and poured himself a drink.
"Don't worry Gary, I send three men after mister Bradhurst, he should not be a problem for long."
"It's not him I am worried about Jack, its Lawrence Greenthorpe's son. He was just here with a young girl."
It was quiet on the other end of the phone; Gary used this silence to take a big gulp from his gin.
"I'm sure that someone will take care of him soon enough my friend." Little did Jack Cholmondely know that he was speaking the truth, the hunters were already looking out for Louie.
"...My men for instance, I’ll make sure they go after him when they are done with mister Bradhurst.
"Thanks Jack, I knew I could count on you."
"Anytime pal, still up for that golfing match on Sunday? Jack asked him and he laughed.
"Oh absolutely, you are going down, pal."
Gary looked out of his window, over the town, with the mansion in the background, he hated that building with a passion, the sooner he got rid of it, the better.

The night was falling as Louie and Majo rode onwards to Orleton, a large forest lay to their right, darkness fell over the tree's, and the full moon made them cast eerie shadows on the ground.
"We have to enter the forest here, stay close to me alright?" Louie said. "The forest can be dangerous... especially now that there is a full moon." Louie shivered, the thought of meeting a werewolf scared the hell out of him. They rode on for quite a while, the hoof beats of their horses in the soft, muddy trail were the only sounds they heard.
"Look over there, fire pixies." Majo said, she was amazed by the beauty Mother Nature had to offer.
The pixies were flying round the tree's, legend says that they guard the tree's from danger, sadly enough, only a few of them were left, way back when people did not have electricity, they were caught, to bring light in the mines and homes. But they are growing larger in numbers again; it's the first time in ages that pixies could be found in this forest.
Louie rode on, their horses were fast and strong, they rode on until Louie noticed something in the distance, a badly constructed, crude fence.
This was a rather strange place to build a fence, the middle of the forest. Louie stopped his horse and Majo quickly followed the example, she knew he had better night vision then him. Or most other living rabbits for that reason. Creatures of the night are known to have highly evolved sight, amongst other senses. "There's a fence over there, stay behind me." They walked closer, and could hear a few rabbits talk. "Get off him!" One of them shouted. It was clear that there was a fight going on, he could see one of them breaking away from the group. Louie quickly dove into a small opening that led to a trail and motioned for Marjorie to do the same. It would be a bit easier to sneak up on them this way. From here he could see that two of the rabbits followed the one that got away.
"Come on, we have to help that man." Louie said as he fought his way through the bushes, he quickly ran after them, Majo decided to stay behind.
The rabbit that was escaping tripped over a thick root sticking out of the ground, and lost consciousness when his head smacked against the ground.
The two others approached him, one of them pulled his dagger and wanted to plant it in the man’s’ chest, but before he got the opportunity to do so, Louie had reached him and grabbed him by the wrist. "I think we should raise the odds, wouldn’t you agree?" He squeezed a little harder and the guy dropped his dagger at his feet, just a few inches away from the face of Thomas Bradhurst.
"What are the odds?" He muttered to himself. The guy that had been standing behind the man with the dagger punched Louie in the stomach; he loosened his grip on the rabbit’s wrist.
Both of them wanted to punch Louie again, but they weren’t quick enough. The vampire grabbed one of the assailants by the neck and slammed him into a tree with all of his might. He could hear the skull break open as it hit the bark. The other rabbit took a step back, terrified at this display of strength and brutality. "Holy ... What the heck are you?"
Louie quickly took two steps towards the rabbit and took him by the skin of the neck, lifting him slightly off the ground. He uncovered his fangs and spoke gently. "Does this answer your question?"
"Oh god, a vampire" The rabbit cried out, the face behind his fur growing pale. He had to repress the urge to vomit and a small trail of urine escaped from the left leg of his pants.
"I don't think I will, I would however like to play a game."
"What, a… what?"
"I ask you a question, and every time you give me a wrong or incomplete answer, I’ll break one of your fingers." The rabbit tried to get away, but quickly stopped moving when Louie wrapped two fingers around his pinky. "Let's start with this one. Are you ready?"
The rabbit nodded, cowering in fear, his eyes were opened wide and took another quick glance at his partner in crime and figured he would best be honest to this man. Because certain men did not play around and this was one of them. Majo ripped a small piece of cloth off of Thomas’ shirt and wrapped it around a nasty gash on his head. She didn't like to see Louie like this, but she knew it was necessary, they needed the information.
"And remember, if you are honest and you don't make any attempt to harm me, or my friend, you'll be ok. Who send you here?"
The rabbit mumbled "How do you know I was…?" Louie broke the hare’s pinky; this was followed by a loud scream. Harder than the scream that anyone at the city hall had let out earlier this day, louder than all of them combined even. He grabbed the hare’s ring finger. "Let's try it again, shall we? Who send you here."
"Please, I can't tell you, if I tell you that, they'll k..."
Louie broke he broke the rabbits ring finger, tears ran down the fur on the rabbits cheeks and he pleaded for his life. "Please, have mercy."
"I do not show mercy to people like you, you wanted to kill an innocent man like mister Bradhurst And for what, a few golden coins?"
"I didn't kill him." he said, followed by a scream as the bone in his middle finger was broken.
"See, I do not have a lot of patience, I just asked you two questions, and you failed to answer them both." With these words, Louie broke the hare’s pointer finger. He now wrapped two fingers around the rabbits thumb.
"You felt a lot of pain didn't you?" Louie said.
"Yes, I did." The rabbit cried, he felt like vomiting, but he was too afraid of dying, the pain was too much, he should vomit, so that he could die and get this over with.
"Who send you here?" Louie asked for the third time, and something made the rabbit realize that he was not going to ask him again.
"I'd rather have you kill me then them, just get it over with." The rabbit cried.
"I didn't want this to happen." Louie said, and with an awful sound and a terrible scream, that made pierced into Majo and made her realize she’d never forget this moment, Louie broke the rabbit's thumb. He sank to his knees and fell down on the ground, the pain had been too much for him and he had given in. Louie looked down the trail, the other rabbit had run off with one of the horses, just as he expected.

"Let's get going, we could drive on to Greenthorpe and get this guy home, his wife must be worried sick." Majo suggested, trying to avoid having to talk about the incident.”We’ll also have to dye our fur; they’ll be looking for two people matching our description.”
Louie nodded, he understood her. "We will do just that." He picked up Thomas’ glasses that had fallen off his head as he rolled down the steep hill; luckily they were not broken during the fall.
They climbed up on their horses and rode off. It would take them at least a day to arrive in Prestbury, and it's been a heck of a day, but sleeping over here seemed too dangerous after that little incident.
They longed for a warm fireplace and a bed.

Chapter 12: I hate cockroaches by Kaz.

This was still for the greater good. This, my journey, was still for the greater good of the universe. Everything would be better off without such minds that stray from what god had intended. They defied death and raped worlds without a second thought. I must help balance the cycle.
Those thoughts ran through my head, a logical step from a stable base into a bloody spiral of vengeance. Regrets? I questioned myself, none I responded. It was safe to open this door and see those who got here before me and invited me to take my journey one step ahead.
The door flew inwards without me touching it and a maroon, scaly, and unmeticulous turtle-paw grabbed out at my neck and pulled me in. "What the hell were you waiting for?" he scolded me. The turtle had his other arm 'mummified' and dressed like the invisible man, except without the invisibility. I stared at his right arm which looked like it had been stuck in an oven. Curiosity overcame me and "What happened to yo-" "Why don't you get creative and think of the worst things that could happen?" he immediately turned and started to walk down the corridor.
This was headquarters. I have no clue how long it was occupied, or what it used to be, but it was located somewhere down an alley in the ghetto part of town. The place where the street-lights glowed orange because the bulb was cheaper. Of course, the white lights have a history of being stolen and resold to the company that made them.
The inside of headquarters kept the queerness of the outside in the lighting. The same dark tangerine spread throughout the hallways, too far spread out that you only knew where you were going in the darkness because it seemed like a willow wisp was guiding you. The walls were made of wood, so this place was ancient. I could imagine it being a office of some kind, and for a small fraction of a second a party that would be held here. But the lights dimmed the idea of bright colors ever existing here.
I kept walking, only catching a glimpse of the burnt-turtle's coat every five steps. The doors we passed by on the sides were probably locked and I wondered what they'd keep in there, and what they would hide from me when I resided in one of these rooms. We stopped at the end of the dim corridor. This last room, this must have been where they kept their leader, who I would have taken down without thought several years ago. "Come in" muffled from the inside, a raspy voice. Age had taken its toll on him already and it would have been an easy task... that several years ago.
This room showed more age than anything else I had seen. It even seemed like dust made up the wood, and some of this guy. This guy resembled a rabbit in some aspects, but I wasn't sure. If he was, that would explain the long ears missing that looked like they were cut off and the other one ripped. Maybe he was deaf. The same dust that blanketed the tables and shelves blanketed this guy as well. I wondered how much of his time he spent in here and noticed a box that seemed new marked with a cockroach symbol and a joker's hat. I tried to remember that the joker hat meant when it was on shipping boxes. He noticed my attention on the package and explained "That there is an insanity inducer, I like to think of it as a catalyst of what's to come."
"How do you believe that's what's at the end?" I already asked halfway once he said catalyst.
"I'm deaf in my left ear; you'll have to speak up." I wasn't sure if he ignored me because it was a question that was 'obviously beyond my grasp' or he really was deaf. I didn't ask again and waited for him to answer. He reached under his desk and pulled out what looked like an ant-farm, except with cockroaches, and a special breed that had what seemed like large fangs. "These are a special Muckamo breed of venom-scythes. They work like ants would, except they're much more territorial." he pulled out another farm with browner... hah, roaches. "These two colonies are different, though they probably act and work the same." He cracked open the door of the case and slid in long tweezers to grab one. It was about 5 centimeters long. I watched it; it seemed really active now just to break free. Maybe it knew what would happen in a minute. The boss closed the case almost showing a hint of fear. "Are they pois-" "These beasts," he already started lecturing again, "are very poisonous, and would probably have outlived rabbits." He opened the blackers' case. All of them simultaneously stopped, waving their antennae in the air sensing something. Then he dropped the single browner one in. It seemed to fall in slow motion, and then once it hit the ground. It only took three seconds. 1...2...3 and all the blacker ones scurried over to the browner one. It was defenseless and had landed on its back. I watched as the blacker ones rushed, hell-bent on eliminating the intruder. "These things..." one bit into the browner one and it stopped squirming, "would outlive us," a second one bit and they started to tear at the shell, "except..." he reached into the box with the joker hat on it and pulled out a black spray can. It didn't have any labels on it. They would have grown resistant already to a pesticide. I thought it over and wondered if he was stupid and deaf. The black ones were almost finished until he cracked open the door on the top again of the glass death-farm. They all paused and stood still again. He sprayed it towards the left of the container. Agh! It smelled, but I couldn't exactly tell of what. So he had an air sanitizer as a roach killer? "They identify each other by smell, and like people, they prosecute anybody different." I watched as what could be the two colonies paused, like they were still thinking. Maybe they were shocked to find the enemy so close. That was it, one on the left side moved only a centimeter before there on the right side rushed to mutilate it, and then four on the left side to fight back.
They were even sides, both of them fought and it seemed to be only a mass of black legs and bodies and fangs. I looked closer to see that the majority were already dead, in ten seconds?! Only about five were fighting now. Two versus three, and I don't think they knew which side had started it either. The three ganged up on one and it was gone, simple as that, but two of them seemed to die in the process. The last one, the last one of the three I saw sunk its fangs deep into the other last survivor's head. At least it looked like a head. I waited to see it remove itself and claim victory as the survivor and the winner of the war. "They're all dead..." I realized and thought out loud. It dawned on me there was no winner; the last one had died of war despite no enemy. "They're all doomed to fight each other and die, but at least this way, we're stopping them before they consume everything. Hah, we're just accelerating the inevitable." Boss grabbed my attention by chuckling. "This is how they got rid of their pest problem," he put the spray back in the box, "and this is how we will get rid of ours."

Burnt turtle? It turned out he was a hacker of some sort, but was caught one day and... as the famous saying goes "if you play with fire, you're going to get burned." So now he taught other people how to do his bidding. Boss explained to me that there were two gangs after each other in Diamondus that just needed to sparked against each other, and the organizations that secretly back them up to do their dirty work, would also have sparked. With those organizations would come the governments, and you'd have a whole civil war. Strike one person in these long hierarchies, and blame it on the other. "Which are these gangs?" I wanted to verify for myself. It was a large jump to go from eliminating cockroaches to populations, but he was right. Stop them now, kill the pests. My faith in him was shaken again when he responded "Speak up, boy! I'm deaf in my right ear." instead of giving me a straight answer.
That one person we needed to strike turned out to be ten, and the blame involved planting jade dawn as the poison used. Burnt already hacked the order logs to falsify a large order of the stuff, but it actually wouldn't be compiled. We needed to physically steal the JD. "Which organization did you put the order into?" I asked. Boss didn't tell me, maybe he knew. "It doesn't matter." he scolded back again. I hated that "screw everybody" tone. It would hit the underground that such a large order of JD went through, even though it didn't, but everybody claimed they knew who it was going to.

I scolded myself for not asking for Burnt's name at the beginning. It felt like he'd be (-)(-)(-)(-)*d if I asked him now and I'd never get rid of the reputation of an idiot. Just wait until somebody else says it. I said to myself earlier, too bad it was just the two of us to retrieve the Jade Dawn and then the two of us to dump it into a water supply.
I asked earlier "And that'll provoke the gang against another?"
"No, you're going to dump it into one of the organization's gang members."
"But they're allies."
"They'll bite The Big Guys' necks once you do this, alliances will be broken and new ones will be formed. This will shatter any permanent alliance that had stood so far and could stand afterwards," he responded. Boss must have thought me as naive as I found this rather twisted, but fitting.

"Get up already." Burnt punched me in on my shoulder. We had already landed, oh well, I was glad to get off this piece of ship that was made to fit two. Burnt must have counted at one and a half.
"Shouldn't we be at an airport of some kind?" I looked around. The place was barren, save for the sparse vegetation and sand. Burnt punched my shoulder again for asking a stupid question. Oh right, we'd have to register this flight at that airport, and nonetheless go through a gate-check to see that we weren't criminals. And anyway, we were supposed to meet a contact.
"See the ba-" Burnt asked and self-censored himself.
"No," I continued eyeing the horizon searching for somebody. Then I saw a small vehicle... it must have been a lift, and at the very least wasn't a patrol officer. We could at least get the info from there. "Over there," I nudged burnt and nudged harder when he didn't seem to respond. "Over there," I repeated and pointed towards the rectangular vehicle. We started walking.

Crystallis looks a lot shorter to the eye than it feels to the foot. "Hey!!" Burnt shouted now that we were in distance. I looked closer, it looked like another rabbit, he was all black, maybe dyed that way. "Black?" Burnt boomed out again. It almost sounded like a name. "What's that right next to him?" I asked low enough so 'Black' wouldn't hear me. Two barrels with what was probably a five-pointed flower on it, a bit green. "Looks like a trash bag except with fur," Burnt replied. I squinted and saw it bled. Did you torture the rabbit for that? I wanted to shout at him. Then I realized it probably wasn't him that did it.
We got there finally. "We'll be taking these now." Burnt said, I kept silent as I didn't know what formalities I'd miss.
"Did you bring the goods?" Black asked us once we got up there.
"Yeah," Burnt replied and reached into his pocket for a diskette. I thought of all the dirty things that he would accept as payment. "Where'd you get all of this stuff?" I blurted out as the landscape was barren and there wasn't exactly a shop.
"Somewhere around here there's a monastery," Black replied, and with that last word the trash bag of fur struggled with its burns and writhed.
"Motherfu*cker, it’s still alive!" Black jumped away from it. Whatever it was... it was deemed dead soon as Black reached for his gun. As soon as he drew it out of its sling, Burnt seemed to step towards him and with one swift movement stab below his ribcage to pierce upwards into his heart. I didn't even see him take out his knife... "Do you always go for the heart?" I asked. It would have been nice if he went for the shoulder of the gun, then I could ask if he always went for the shoulder. No response. I was certain that murder would be the most compassionate thing I'd ever see Burnt do. He found pity for the trash bag and somewhere I did too, but didn't act as fast.
"Grab a barrel." Burnt instructed. The merciful one I saw a while ago was gone. "What about the..." I looked closely and made a lucky guess, "girl?" Burnt had already gotten one barrel on his shoulder. "If she lives, she can use the cart to go somewhere," he replied. Not our problem... but something inside of me told me she wouldn't live if we left her out here. I looked closer. She had twisted over in the sands with all those cuts, it must have hurt. I looked even closer at her face and realized what how damaged the eyes were. Whatever caused this bleeding I now saw was soothed by goo of amber color. "Yeesh.." I looked at them. Its okay, she can't tell I'm staring and I moved her arm to cover her eyes with the Advil-like glue. She moved back.
"Where the hell do you think we'd take her? Back to headquarters to live out her life alone there?" Burnt had come back and noticed my fascination at this blind one.
She turned to face Burnt and moved her mouth without any words coming out. I wondered how badly she bled and burned. Burnt sighed a bit angrily and asked "Where?"
"Pn um ‘rlick" she rasped.
"Forget it." I said, it didn't matter and she was taking up time. I think I saw tears, it might have just been the amber.
"I need to go to Pneum Arklik..." she sobbed and coughed. Finally an answer.
"That's out of our way by a long shot." Burnt responded. She seemed to sob even more and faced Burnt. Even without a complete face, she still gave the look of sorrow perfectly.
"We're wasting time," I told them all, "Let's just ride this with the barrels and drop her off somewhere." I indicated the vehicle which still had enough gas and space to carry us all to the ship. It's going to be cramped. Don't tell that to the big guy... She seemed to stop sobbing as much though and clung to me. Why me? Burnt's right next to you, why the heck are you clinging onto me? I dragged her over and sat her in the back. It was still gruesome to look at, but the trash goes in the back, with the jade dawn. "'Key's already here." I projected to Burnt. He was searching the dead guy and found a wallet. "Thanks" he seemed to say with a hand gesture and got into the driver's seat. "What happened to the third guy?" Garbage asked, but neither responded.

It felt like she knew what we were packing into the cargo area of the back of the ship. We were packing her with the cargo, I figured it wouldn't matter and she wouldn't mind as all she could see was darkness anyway. I thought so anyways, it seemed like she saw some things blind people don't see, and she cringed when she felt the barrel of poison. It was safely sealed, Burnt made sure. We'd be screwed too if it leaked.
---
"She has to get off here." I said, looking at the meters.
"Not here..." there was compassionate Burnt again for a second.
"Yes here, here or else we'll run out of gas and fail boss." Those words, fail and boss, seemed to make him cringe. He had forgotten of how we couldn't bring her home with us like a lost puppy and ask the boss if "Can we keep him?"
"Which planet is this anyway?" I asked.
"Don’t know, we'll just drop her off in a rural area, a city will probably rape her."
Stupid sickos...
"Hey... isn't this the base for one of the corporations?" I asked. It probably wasn't, I didn't know how to even recognize ones nonetheless which ones they were.
"Yeah..."
"Boss wasn't specific on.." Burnt already shifted the ship and gravity was felt all throughout. At the very least, this ship had the technology to not burn up in atmosphere as the ship was guided into a freefall.
This planet was small, and looked grey instead of blue from above. #@(*#$ There's the ground already!! I cursed out loud.
"Stop whining." and Burnt seemed to be able to pull up from a dive. "Eesh.." I said. We could have crashed, but didn't... but we could have. "There, a landing pa-" "I already see it," he interrupted. The landing pad was surprising on the ground right next a parking lot. We had landed somewhere in the city. Hotels, technology, a good neighborhood with its bad counterpart and the low-lives that we targeted.
"Unpacking time?" I asked. I wondered how she was doing.

When she came out, she was silent. She must have been thinking to herself a lot. Blindness must have been new to her. "We're here." I greeted her.
"Pne-"
"No, but you can probably ask somebody else to get there." She reached out to cling to me but I reacted and jumped back. Burnt came up behind me and handed her the pilfered wallet, free of ID to trace back to Black.
"Leave and ask somebody where a hotel is." Burnt coldly said to her. He had that sort of commanding voice that says "Go away or I'll shoot you," in the background. She immediately got up and tried to follow the concrete that would lead her to the sidewalk. She'll be fine... somebody will take care of her. I lied to myself.
"Do you know what happens when this mixes with water?" Burnt pointed near the back where the Jade Dawn was. How would he know?
"That." and Burnt indicated over to the bleeding trash bag that had been eaten alive but survived to feel the pain. Her head seemed to sink a bit lower as she kept walking away. She heard him, I knew it.

"Why are we getting in here?" I stared at the door that seemed to be the janitor's.
"Water supply." he replied. It all dawned on me, this was where one of the gangs inhabited. I noticed the graffiti, and the brand name of a "Prochoice." Oh wait, I remember seeing that name in the order hackings. So they were the subordinates.
"Go ahead and open it," Burnt told me. I looked at it and reached for my ID card. I had cut a slit in it so it could go past the latch and open it. The door slid open as soon as I swiped the knob. "Cheap security" I said and noticed a large water pipe on the side. The one next to it was probably for sewage. The small tank must have been for debris filterage. I opened it first to see that it was surprisingly clean. "What are you doing?" I asked Burnt, he was staring at a panel on the wall. He pointed at it, one which said 'lock down test' and another that said 'fire simulation'. I started dumping the heavy barrel into the tank, and the second one right after it, they weren't that heavy after all. But I still had to lean back and make sure not to splash it.
"Lockdown, sprinklers..." Burnt muttered to himself, "and we should start running." He flicked the switches.
"What?" It started to sprinkle...

"RUN!" and he bolted off as I noticed the tank was becoming active. !@#$ and I rushed to close it. I looked above to check, 2 sprinklers. They'd keep using the water until they came upon the contaminated, and by the time all of that was used, everybody in there would be dead or wish for it.
I bolted in after Burnt, noted that our ship had that logo of "Prochoice" all this time and got in. He already had it marcoed to take off at the press of a button. We left the Janitor door open... this was a sloppy job. Then I heard the blood curdling scream... and then another. I saw a pair of eyes look from behind in the building... two eyes saw us, that was perfect. Those two eyes needed to survive, and our plan would succeed. This would be seen to them as a way to wipe out the dirty tracks of the organization, alliances would be broken...
We flew away back to headquarters, I wondered what she thought of all of this. That bleeding one.

"So it starts..." Boss smiled as he watched web-news-lines start their conspiracies, governments declaring war against the terrorists that had declared war against them in the same exact words with the same exact perspective. "Disgusting pests..." Boss muttered to himself again.

Chapter 13: Lost by Acid

Tony climbed back into the cockpit of his ship to retrieve a few things he’d need. He opened a small emergency hold, which would normally be in the floor, but in these circumstances it happened to be in the ceiling. A small pistol, several days’ rations and a folded tent fell out onto his head. After a few more curses, Tony gathered his equipment and set off towards the building.
As he got closer, Tony began to see that this building was a mansion. “Well, there certainly seems like there’d be lots of room in there,” remarked Tony, “I can see it’s a bit run down, though. Probably nobody lives there anymore. Dang!” Indeed, the wood looked slightly unstable, and the iron fence surrounding the place had rusted over. Beggars can’t be choosers, however, and Tony stayed on a beeline towards the mansion.
When Tony got to the front of the mansion, he had a chance to survey the surroundings. A sign told Tony in fancy letters that this mansion was the Greenthorpe Mansion. There was a lake next to the mansion, and it looked like a nice place to swim if he had to stay here for a while. A small path led away from the mansion, and Tony could see a small village not far away.
“Going to the town would be a good idea,” thought Tony. He took a few steps towards the inviting village, but his curiosity got the better of him. “…But I want to see what this mansion is like, first.” He pushed on the rusted gate, and it fell over with a soft clang. Tony blinked and stood there for a few seconds, before shrugging and walking up the path to the Greenthorpe estate. The door was open when he got there, and Tony could peer in to see a hallway that had maybe once been neat and tidy, but now had broken furniture strewn across it. The pictures on the wall were crooked, with a few that had fallen on the floor, and a vase had smashed, spreading strange brown ooze across the floor. Tony walked into the mansion, carefully avoiding the splintered chairs and brown goo, and entered a room at random. Almost immediately, he realized why random is not good. A knife was stuck in the blood-covered floor, and a few rabbits lay obviously dead. Tony carefully backed out of the room, shutting the door as he went. He would have bolted, but a strange morbid curiosity made him decide to explore a little more, possibly to see what could have committed such a crime. He ducked through a living room filled with cobwebs and entered a storage room of sorts. He noticed a large wooden case in the corner, whose doors were opened slightly, as if a weight were pushing at them from inside. Tony walked up to the case, and opened the doors. A dead body fell on him with an unceremonious flop. That was all the encouragement Tony needed, and he sprinted out of the mansion, screaming.
A ways away from the mansion, Tony stopped to catch his breath. He knew it would be stupid to go into the forest, and far worse to go back to the mansion. That left only the village as an option of where to go, so he started along the path to the village, eating one of the tasteless but life-giving rations he had brought with him.
Once he arrived at Greenthorpe Village, Tony immediately scoped out a tavern. Hoping he’d find someone who could tell him how to get off the planet, or at least room and board, Tony walked under a sign explaining this inn was called “Hare and there” and through the door. None of the patrons lifted their eyes from their drinks or card games as Tony walked in and seated himself at the bar. The barkeeper, a young rabbit girl, looked up at Tony and put on a fake smile, saying, “What can I get for you?”
“Just an ale, thanks” replied Tony. He had never had the stomach for anything stronger than that. As the barkeeper was getting his drink, Tony scanned the bar. It seemed respectable; there were few if any stains and the patrons were sipping their drinks in silence. Tony made a mental note to remember this place; it was a nice break from bars like the infamous War Tavern where the patrons would begin a huge brawl at the drop of a hat.
The barkeeper returned and placed Tony’s ale in front of him. Tony gave her a goofy smile and pulled out a small machine and pressed a few buttons, which made the machine pop out 10 small bronze coins. These he gave to the barkeeper. It was important to have an ITCM (Intergalactic Trade Credit Machine) when you traveled as much as Tony. The device had a value of money stored on it, and could replicate just about any currency used within known space.
After drinking half of his ale, that was a lot stronger than the stuff he was used to back home, Tony asked the rabbit behind the counter, “Do you know if there are any spaceports near here?”
The barkeeper thought about this for a moment, before responding, “Well, there’s one in Oakloma, but that’s a ways away. You could get there by catching a plane in Prestbury.”
“Ok, where’s Prestbury?”
“Follow the road out of Greenthorpe towards the mansion, but when the road branches follow the road into the forest instead. There should be a branch a few miles in, take that path and it should take you to Prestbury. I wouldn’t suggest leaving tonight, though, the forest can be dangerous at night.”
“Oh, I can take care of myself,” said Tony, standing up. “Thank you for your help, here’s a tip.” Tony pressed a few more buttons on his ITCM, giving the barkeeper 5 more coins. “Goodbye.”
“I can take care of myself... God, what was I thinking, I’ve had my life handed out on a frikkin silver plate before I got to this place!” Tony was walking through the forest, and the sun had completely left the sky. To make matters worse, it was overcast, blocking any light from the moon or stars. Tony fumbled around in the dark, wishing he had had the sense to bring a light source. A while later, Tony’s foot collided with something, sending him facedown into the dirt. He got up, muttering, “Who the heck puts a flippin’ wall in a forest?!” He carefully checked his location, noting the position of the wall and the broken foliage around him. He began his trek again, only to trip over an inconveniently placed tree root and fall into a burrow-like hole. He tumbled head-over-heels, downward further and further into the hole, until he bowled into a group of rabbits. As he looked up into the faces of the rabbits, a third one hanging over the back of a horse unconscious, he noted that leaving at night definitely wasn’t one of his brightest moves.

Chapter 14: The plan by Ducky.

Eddie shuffled out into the tavern as Verity was locking the door. It was 3 AM, but most rabbits slept during the day now. It seemed safer.
"Verity," he said, easing onto a barstool, "I've been in contact with a team of...shall we say, renegades, for about a month or so. They're a posse of Eddies-of-all-trades, but they need someone whose forte is really computers. I haven't mentioned your name to them, but I thought you might be interested. You're good with a gun, you're unstoppable with machines, and you can mix a dang good drink. Also, your cooking isn't half bad either," he said as an afterthought.
"That's why I work here, Eddie," said Verity wearily. "How deep in are they?"
"You're going to have to get down and dirty, I think, darling."
Verity stared out the grimy window.
"I'll have to close the tavern?" she said.
"Unless you want the commute. They're out of Carrotus."
Verity anxiously brushed a paw over her face, angered and guilty at her emotions. She wanted to leave this war behind. She wanted nothing more than for it to end. But she couldn't leave it. She was fighting it.
"I'll look them up tonight. Leave me a name?"
Eddie nodded and slid off his stool, but the gentle tapping on the tavern door made them both stiffen. Verity's lop ears pricked as much as they could.
"Get behind the bar," she hissed at Eddie. She approached the door, cautiously peering through the peephole.
"Raphael!" She swung the door open, flinging her arms around a tall yellow cat whose bushy tail dripped muddy water. Verity pressed her lips to his, kissing him closely. "Darling, where have you been? I've been so worried. I thought for sure you would come in last night, and then you didn't come in tonight either. I was so afraid--"
Eddie straightened up from behind the counter.
"Good to see you, Raphael," he said courteously. Raphael didn't respond to him.
"What's the matter?" Verity anxiously brushed his long hair aside to look into his yellow eyes.
Raphael smiled wryly at Verity and returned her kiss for a long moment. He held her hands tightly, then touched her cheek. "Verity, I hope you know that I'm doing this for the best. I love you, sweetheart. I'm only trying to end this war, the same as you are."
Verity stared at him. "What- wait, what are you-" she backed away a step.
From behind the cat's frame stepped three creatures, two of them blue-scaled lizards and the third a rabbit upon whose coat the grime hid any trace of what was once white fur. All three of them held fusion lasers in their claws.
Verity pressed her paws to her mouth, uncomprehending, but the lizards stalked past her and aimed their weapons behind her neat bar. She didn't have time to turn around before the scream of the lasers rammed into Eddie's body. He was dead before he slammed into the rack of glasses behind the bar and fell to the ground in a shower of broken glass. The smell of burning flesh filled Verity's nostrils as Raphael strode by her, needlessly placing his finger on Eddie's melted carotid.
"We've been looking for him for quite a while," said the white rabbit, "but it looks like we won't have to worry about him getting into our things anymore. Nosy varmint, he was." he glanced carelessly at Verity.
"He did a lot of damage. I'd hate to think what any students of his could do. And you know, I don't really want to have to deal with anyone trying to get revenge on him, either, so let's just finish the job now, shall we?" Verity heard the smash of computer monitors in the back room as the white rabbit leveled his weapon with her eyes.
"You won't do any more damage either, will you? Oh no. I think I'm going to damage you now."
"Jonathan! I told you not to touch--" Verity's and the white rabbit's heads both turned to see Raphael leaping toward them. The white rabbit swung his laser into Verity's face. She crashed into a table and slid to the ground, blood trickling from the gash over her broken cheekbone. Slipping in and out of consciousness, the last thing she saw was the white rabbit turning to aim his beam at Raphael's unprotected body. The laser blasted a hole right through his chest.

1 Month Later

Verity folded a red coat on top of her laptop for more padding and zipped the bag closed. The scars on her cheeks were nearly healed now, the white traced through the grey. She pulled her two bags onto her shoulders and tucked her RF blaster into her belt. Her room was empty and the taffeta curtains on the windows hung despondently.
The door clicked shut behind her and she turned and walked down the empty hallway. The key she sealed in an envelope and left in the mailbox- if she ever came back, it would probably still be there.
Verity set her feet for the ports. If she was going to Carrotus, she needed a ship. And to get a ship...

"I can't figure out what's wrong with it," said the black-furred rabbit, rubbing sweat off his forehead. He straightened up from where he had been crouched in front of the ship's central intelligence unit. He squinted at his companion frustrated.
"I asked the bartender to ask around the cafes, see if anyone's docking or coming in who can check it out. I know nothing about the computer systems in these machines... my father always had it fixed up for me before I headed out."
Icarus took the drink Naomi handed him. "How long do you think that will take?"
"I don't know," she said, "it was fine when I docked. And I hate to think of the price that some local bimbo is going to haggle us into, what with the wars here and all. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."
Icarus opened his mouth to speak, but-
"Excuse me."
The two companions looked around for the speaker. Verity's light green eyes stared levelly into Icarus's indigo ones, then Naomi's.
"I hear you're looking for a technician. The bartender was putting up a notice when I came in. He sent me out here." She glanced at the ship, then back at the two rabbits.
Icarus raised an eyebrow at Naomi.
"That was much quicker than I expected."
"See? You're such a man. Can never ask for help!" She smiled at Verity. "You're a lifesaver, if you can help us. The CIU is acting up and we don't have a clue...I'm not one for the mechanical side, but Icarus is, and for the life of us we don't know what's going on. Could you take a look at it and see if you can do anything for us?"
Verity shifted her bag, sizing up the two rabbits. "I can fix the computers. How about we head inside and talk about terms?"
Icarus and Naomi seated themselves opposite Verity, who declined a drink.
"So my situation is this. I'm headed to Carrotus- the sooner, the better, but I don't have a ship and almost less money than that. I'm looking to hitch a ride off this planet as far as I can get- I don't know where you're going, but I'll put in my time on your ship for a lift."
Icarus rested his elbows on the table. "Well, I did taxiing for a long time, but I'm quitting the biz. And since you're trying to barter your way on, I'd say...you're in luck. We're going to Carrotus and I want to be there in a few days, if I can. And since we can't move without a technician, I guess we're in luck too." He smiled warmly at Verity, a face she wanted to trust. Icarus extended his paw across the dirty counter.
"The name's Icarus. This is Naomi." The golden rabbit smiled at Verity as she shook their paws.
"I'm Verity. It's good to do business with you. Now.. I just have a few conditions." She looked levelly at them.
"I don't want to think about my past, much less talk about it. Two, I work alone and I have no friends or family, and if you ever come across someone who's looking for me, I'm much rather that you didn't know me. Okay?"
Icarus nodded. "Well, we only have one. We've got a few...stops to make, on the way there. Should only take us a couple days longer. Is that acceptable?"
Verity nodded. "I'm not in that big of a hurry. I haven't been out in the galaxy much for a few years anyway, what with the war and all."
"Indeed. It's been pretty confining, I know. Well- shall we?" Icarus nodded to the door.
"I'll put your bags in the cabin," said Naomi, sliding out from the bench.
At the ship, Verity switched on the main computers and peered into the screens. Naomi placed Verity's bags on one of the tiny bunks in the main cabin, then as an afterthought, tucked them into the tiny, 1 person room she had been residing in. She joined Icarus outside, jumping neatly down the ladder.
"So what do you think of our new associate?" she said, staring at the dully gleaming hull of the ship.
Icarus glanced at her, his hands in his pocket and shoulders hunched against the drizzling rain that was just starting from the drowsy clouds.
"She seems like she won't be any trouble. Just a war child trying to get out of here too."
"War child?" Naomi peered at Icarus. "She's older than us, you know."
"Well, she's just fixing the ship. I hope we can trust her. Maybe we can find something out about her just to check."
"You can ask around. But be careful. She's our ticket out of here. I don't want to offend her."
In the insulated cockpit, Verity glanced at the two young people standing outside before setting to work on the machines. She hoped that things would go smoothly. The kids seemed nice and innocent.
Verity tried to remember when she was innocent.
The screens flickered dazedly around her, then angrily as she began tapping into the systems, interpreting the garbled coding.

Chapter 15: Take my life by DoubbleDutch.

He knew they were there, his condition allowed him to sense others without having to see them. They had been skulking around in the trees all morning, watching him. Never mind, it was a sunny day and he'd deal with them when the need arose.
Tier lay in the sun listening to the sounds of the forest with his eyes closed. He didn't sleep, but this soon after feeding he could just lie back relax and almost forget his life, almost.

"Okay you sick piece of f-ck, get up!"
Blast. Just when he was enjoying it too. Tier resignedly stood up and looked at his aggressor. What surprised him was her youth; she couldn't be older than sixteen. But he knew the look in her eyes, he was going to be shot, it was just a matter of time.
The rabbit pointed the gun at his head; it was old fashioned, solid projectile, probably loaded with silver.
"That’s right you bloodsucking f-ck, how does it feel to know you're going to die? Did my brother get the chance to feel that way?"
Inwardly Tier groaned, this could get messy. Had the rabbit he'd killed last night been with others? Had they been tracking him?" He spoke softly and slowly. "Shooting me won't do you any good; we can sort this out if-"
"SHUT UP!" screamed the rabbit "I don't want to listen to your lies!"
Quickly Tier stepped forward and grabbed the girls arm. Several things happened at once. Tier heard a dull crack as the rabbit’s foot broke his shell near the waist, then a disorienting buzz as the top of his head was blown off. When he refocused his eyes he saw the rabbit staring at his regenerating head with an expression of disgust and shock. She let the gun fall noiselessly onto the grass.

Again Tier spoke slowly. "Now that we've demonstrated the uselessness of that course of action, could we please try a more peaceful solution?"
The rabbit recovered quickly. "So you're a zombie then, if you try anything, I'm not going down easy."
"Actually, would you mind leaving; I was rather enjoying the morning."
The rabbit backed off and stared at him in silence for a full minute. "That was impressive, can you grow back easily?"
"Regenerate? Sure, after any injury, always grows back a little more dead though."
There was another pause. "So guns, fire, vampires...?"
"No problem, in fact, I've killed a few vampires."
The rabbit looked thoughtful. "Okay then, you're coming with me to Greenthorpe."
"Excuse me, I'm coming with who to where, why?"
"A f-cking vampire killed my brother in Greenthorpe a few days ago. You, Mr. Immortal are going to help me find them."
Tier thought it over. What was the worst that could happen? He'd get killed? "Sure." he said. "I haven't got anything better to do."
"One last thing" the rabbit said.
"No." said Tier in an authorative manner “I'm not going to infect you, and there's no point in arguing the fact."

Tier walked confidently along the track. Years of roaming the forests had allowed him to move easily without even a hint of light. Beside him the rabbit (whose name apparently was Michelle) walked stiffly carrying the tiniest red torch, its light barely bright enough to see. She was gradually getting used to the rigor mortis, and the bite on her wrist was already regenerating. Things had progressed at a somewhat rapid pace that day. Tier was still unnerved about what he'd done. It wasn't that he had infected another, or even that Michelle had wanted to be infected, after all many people would want his regenerating capacity. What unnerved him was that she hadn't been uninformed and ignorant, indeed she'd questioned him thoroughly and still wanted to become infected. And she'd had such strong conviction too; something about her demeanor had made it somehow imminent that he’d infect her. That was worrying. He'd underestimated her before and got a broken shell and shot head as a result. Whoever this vampire was, he was in trouble.

Their visit to the town had been brief. Michelle had stolen some booze to disguise her odd way of walking and had barely stayed long enough for the funeral before setting out after her brother’s killer. That was lucky. The townsfolk seemed suspicious. They'd accepted Michelle's story that he was an off world assassin, but he could still almost hear them whispering behind his back, pointing out the little oddities, his unblinking eyes, lack of breathing. It had been a relief to get away; he hadn't been in a town for too long. Michelle had an easier time, who could blame a grieving sister if she got tipsy? The fact that her draining body fluids made her weep helped. Apparently she believed in 'the Kennedy constant'; "Don't cry, get even." She even seemed to take the loss of sleep in her stride, using it to gain ground on her target.

Tier broke the silence. "So are we going walk all night like this or are you going to even attempt a conversation?"
"And break my concentration? It’s hard enough to track in such a stiff body and what’s more it’s so smegging cold."
"You'll get used to it; at least your nose has stopped running."
Tier sighed, it was like talking to a brick wall, or maybe he'd simply forgotten how to make conversation. Having no one to talk to but yourself wasn't a worry, it was when you answered back that was. Still, he didn't blame her, from what little information he could obtain she'd worked with her brother and father on the remote transmitter stations before her brother moved off to Greenthorpe. That alone explained her silence, servicing the remote stations was a lonely and dangerous job. It also explained her deep affection toward her brother and her quick fighting reflexes. Tier had seen many remoter servicers and they had to survive a lot, bandits, wild animals, isolation, and if they got injured, well, very few broke a leg twice. She'd have to be feeling the first stirrings of The Hunger though. As they continued to track their folly Tier wondered how long such a stubborn mind would hold out.

Chapter 16: Coming to terms by ToxicBunny.

The sun would rise soon. Susan was curled up on the sofa, about half-way through her book. She'd been unable to sleep. She was worrying about Tom, who should have returned by now. She was worrying about the people in Depada, who she'd seen on the news. She was worrying about what had happened that day at the town hall. As hard as she tried, she couldn't concentrate on her book. The lamplight flickered on the aging oak-paneled walls. This had been a beautiful house, back in its day. She looked up at the circular stained-glass window. One of the small panes was missing. She walked over to the desk and removed a small tube of glue from the top drawer. She crossed to the window, and was about to pick a blue pane up off the floor, when there was a knock at the door. She tossed the tube of glue onto the sofa and headed for the hall. She opened the door as far as the chain would allow, and saw that it was the council leader.
"Hello, Mr. Dalton!" she exclaimed. She was about to comment on the pleasantness of his surprise visit, when she saw his expression. She removed the chain and opened the door. "What's wrong?"
"Hello, Mrs. Bradhurst. Is Tom back?"
"No, why?"
"I'm calling an extraordinary meeting of the council. You'll see why. Come as quickly as possible. You'll have to tell Tom about it when he gets back. See you there." With that, he left. Susan closed the door. This was a worrying development.

Tom was a notoriously bad riser. Barely conscious, he was unaware that anything was wrong. Without opening his eyes, he turned over in an attempt to find a comfortable position. Something was wrong. His bed felt different. Blearily, he opened his eyes. Above him were the beams and planks of an uncovered wooden ceiling. The morning sunshine blazed through a modest window to his left. A familiar looking grey buck and an unfamiliar female rabbit were looking down at him. The latter's hand passed his eyes and he could feel her mopping his forehead. It hurt. He tried to call out, but all he could manage was a brief guttural sound.
"Shut up" murmured the girl. Memories of the previous day's events started to return. He cleared his throat, and croakily asked what was going on.

Susan entered the council chamber by the rear door. The wall behind her curved around on either side until the two halves face each other, then a straight wall ran between them, forming a half-moon shape. Two long desks, one on either side, curved around with the wall. Like everything else in the town, they were showing their age. Between them and the wall councilors were standing in small groups, murmuring quietly to one another. In front of her lay the central aisle. Beyond the desks there were two steps down into a lowered area, at the end of which stood leader's desk, three steps up. On the wall behind hung the coat of arms of the town. It was a curious feature. It had been granted to the town in a previous age, by a king whose name nobody could remember. It was in recognition of the arduousness of being a frontier town. Right now, the town was about as far away from the frontier as you could get. Susan had pondered this the first time she had gone to see her husband speak. Now her attention was caught by something quite different. On the leader's desk, facing her and the councilors, was a monitor. The computer it was attached to was turned on, but the screen itself was turned off. Behind it sat Dalton, quietly observing the scene.
Susan walked over to two of her acquaintances and asked what was going on. It appeared everyone had a theory about why the meeting had been called. Nobody knew anything conclusive. Finally, the last sleepy colleague entered the chamber. Dalton called for order, and they all took their seats.
"Ladies and gentlemen," began Dalton, "we have two serious problems on our hands. A few hours ago I was watching television. Not at home, but in a Channel Eight news van. I have a recording of what I saw." He stopped, and made sure he had their undivided attention. "I think you should all watch it." He switched on the monitor. The first frame was showing, an eager Channel 8 presenter in front of the Greenthorpe mansion. Dalton pressed play. The councilors watched intently: the rats, the paintings, the marines and the figure in the kitchen... A few of the councilors couldn't stand the sight of blood, and had to leave hurriedly. When they returned, the hall was silent. As they sat down, Dalton continued, "That's not the only problem. Most of you will know about the incident at the town hall yesterday. Some of you were there. A few of you will have recognized the gentleman involved."

"The name's Tony Waterbeck. I'm a pilot. I crash landed near Greenthorpe. I was trying to get back home to Technoir when I came across you lot in that forest." Tom had heard of Tony Waterbeck, of course. A sporting celebrity.
"So, how did you come to be chased by those thugs?" asked the girl, who had introduced herself as Marjorie. "I don't know. One minute I was riding along - “Tom stopped as the door opened and Louie walked in. There was something about him, something familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Uh. Hi."
"Good morning, Mr. Bradhurst," replied Louie. He drew a chair up to Tom's bed and sat down; his unusually shiny brownish fur seemed to leave off traces on the wood. "How's your head?"
"It's been better. But I'll live. Hey, did you ever go to Relwick University? It's just that you remind me of... of..." Tom trailed off.
"No. I never had the chance to go to university. Not that I never studied. I've... spent a lot of time in a library."
"I'm sorry. It doesn't matter. You must be Louie."
"Yes."
"Thanks for coming to my rescue last night."
"Well, I do have a vested interest in your safety."
"What's that, then?"
"You are Thomas Bradhurst. Councillor Thomas Bradhurst. You're in charge of property and planning in Greenthorpe."
"Yes. But you could buy property or get planning permission or whatever without me."
"I don't think many people in Greenthorpe would be willing to sell me anything. Besides which, I may already own the property in question." Louie stopped and looked at Tony. He'd already been told. "Mr. Bradhurst, I wonder if you know more than me about the property rights of the deceased. Or, rather, the undeceased."
"The undeceasad?" It clicked. A textbook from his first year at Relwick. How to Recognize the Undead.

Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. When she first heard the rumors, she had thought she could believe in vampires. But now that she was actually being told that there was a vampire on the loose, it was too incredible.
"But we can't be sure the vampire in the video was Louie. We should be prepared for the possibility that there are two, maybe more." said Dalton. "Mr. Parker, you'd like to speak?"
"Yes sir, thank you. Our first action should be to demolish the Greenthorpe mansion. The vampire or vampires should have nowhere to hide or set up a base of operations."

Tom was silent. He'd been insisting that vampires didn't exist for years now. On the other hand, he'd also insisted that the tooth fairy existed. He prided himself in taking the unusual in his stride. He looked over at Tony. He probably already knew. It would explain why he had seemed a little distant.
"A vampire. So you want to know if you still own something you owned when you were alive?"
"It's not as simple as that. It's something I should have inherited, had I been alive."
"That's even more compli... You're... Are you Louie Greenthorpe?"
"That's very impressive, considering how old I was when I last had my picture taken."
"I think I have a vested interest in you now. The Greenthorpe mansion..."
"...Is exactly what I'm interested in."
"Oh, right. You'll want it back. You must be pretty attached to it."
"It's not that," Louie started and then hesitated. The mansion had been his home for hundreds of years. He was sick of it, and yet at the same time he felt attached to it. "It's not for me. I want it to be a shelter for refugees."
"From Diamondus?" Marjorie nodded. Tom fell silent again. The mansion would house plenty of people, but what about the company that wanted the land? That deal meant everything for Greenthorpe. But then again, the shelter would mean everything for the refugees. "I'd have to check the law books. But I think you have a case."

"Mrs. Bradhurst? Will you make the decision in place of your husband?" Susan considered Dalton's request. She was only there as a stand-in, but Tom did need the site cleared.
"I think we can act without an absentee's consent in this case!" exclaimed Parker. "It's an emergency! We're not even changing the land ownership; we're just tearing down a building which we all recognize as dangerous!"
"We have to follow the proper procedure," Dalton replied. Parker scowled.
"It's okay. I'll decide. Yes, we should have it torn down." said Susan. She looked across at Parker. There was a gleam in his eye. Perhaps it was because she didn't like him, but it looked malicious.
"Excellent," said the leader. "We'll need to call in the armed forces. They haven't been deployed to Diamondus yet, but we'll have to act quickly before they are."

Several hours later, Susan was back home and lying in bed. It had been a grueling day, organizing the demolition, and she hadn't slept since the previous night. Despite this, she'd been lying there for about an hour, wide awake. In the distance, she could hear hoof beats approaching. Her ears pricked up, but the horse road on by, a few streets away. She turned over and tried to get comfortable for the umpteenth time. Several minutes passed with no sound but the ticking of the alarm clock. Then she heard the back door slam shut and her husband's voice call out. She leapt out of bed, threw on her dressing gown, and ran downstairs.
She stopped abruptly when she saw that they had company.

A while later Tom, Tony, Majo and a properly clothed Susan were sipping tea in the living room. Louie had declined the offer of a drink, but sat with them as Tom recounted the events of the last few days.
"...And it turns out that Louie here is none other than Louie Greenthorpe."
"Greenthorpe, as in the Greenthorpe, Greenthorpes? Are you descended from...?" Susan began.
"I'm Louie Greenthorpe the first. Brought to you by the wonderful world of the supernatural." said Louie, running out patience. Beneath her fur Susan's face went white.
"It's okay. He's more sanguine than sanguinary," said Tom. He laughed feebly.
"That was terrible, dear." Susan only managed to smile, ever so slightly.
"It's better than the one about the waffles."
"Fine, fine. He's not 'sanguinary'. But someone else from the Greenthorpe mansion is."
"What?" chorused Louie and Tom.
"The night before last a TV crew and a bunch of marines went into the mansion. We saw the tape in the council. There was this dark figure. He - it - killed them. It killed them all."
"Oh no," said Louie, gravely. "I thought he was dead. It was self defense. He was trying to kill me. I left him for dead. That's why I wanted to get away from Greenthorpe." There was a pause.
"Who?" inquired Majo.
"Theodore Thatcher. He came in when you were unconscious." There was silence. After a while, Susan spoke.
"The council asked the Carrotus government for help. They said they'd deal with it, but we didn't think they took it seriously. So Councilor Cobley put the video up on the net."
"Anonymously?" guessed Tom. Susan nodded.
"It should get a response in a few days."
"But what kind of response? A few experts or a full-scale invasion? It would be nice if the town were left standing," said Tom.

The sun had set. Susan entered Tom's study with two mugs of tea.
"There you go. I thought you might like something to drink."
"Thanks," replied Tom.
"So, what are you looking for?"
"I need to find out what Louie's legal status is with regards to property law. We need to find out if he can get the mansion for the Diamondus refugees."
"The mansion? But..."
"What?" asked Tom. Susan told him about the council's decision. Tom sighed. Now he'd also have to go through the building safety laws in order to save it. This was going to be a long night.

Several days had passed since the television broadcast had gone online, and there was still no sign of any kind of Special Forces. The cold, lonely mansion loomed menacingly over the surrounding grounds. There had been no sign of the new inhabitant, but it had been a tense few days in the Bradhurst household. Tony had decided to stick around and salvage what he could from the wreckage of his ship. Tom had spent most of the time buried in tome upon tome of legal jargon. Susan was continuing to take care of his council duties, with nobody knowing that he had returned.
The vote passed: a town-sponsored symbolic funeral would be held for Theodore Thatcher, who had disappeared into the Greenthorpe mansion and, they thought, hadn't been seen since. Susan knew otherwise, but kept her mouth shut.
"The next item on the agenda," announced Dalton, "is the Peddleburg Forest refugee camp, as decreed by his Royal Highness King Jazz and passed by the Carrotus Assembly."
Susan's ears would have pricked up, had she not been exercising full self-control.
"I for one think the proposals are on too small a scale," said a short, dark green rabbit two places to the right of Susan. "The proposed camps will not offer enough space for the number of people likely to leave Diamondus, and a larger camp in the area would certainly be sustainable."
"But that is how the powers that be choose to allocate their funds, and it is beyond our power," said Dalton. "The debate should focus on the impact of the camp on our community, and what our actions should be."
"Mr. Chairman," began Susan. "Does the camp or any part of it lie within the boundaries of the Greenthorpe municipality?"
"I regret to say I do not know. They have provided a map of the proposed camp, if you would like to check."

"Where are we going?" asked Tony. He and Susan were strolling along one of the roads out of Greenthorpe.
"The forest, Take a look at these two maps."
"'Greenthorpe Municipal Service Map', and 'Carrotus Immigration Ministry Ordinance 27B/6 Appendix C: Map'. It’s all very official."
"Look at the longitudes and latitudes."
"Ah, so this appendix corresponds to this part of the forest?"
"Yup."
"So we're going to look at it? Why?"
"Look at the Municipal Service map. There's a rectangle approximately where the toilet facilities are on the other map."
"Yeah, I see it. What's it for?"
"That's exactly what we're going to find out." They had passed the last house of the town, and were walking through the narrow strip of fields that lay between the town and the forest. Susan was enjoying the walk. It was nice to escape the daily council duties and get some fresh air. Tom spent most of his time cooped up in the office. It was no wonder he was so eager to go to Orleton. And now they were both stuck at a desk all day. They had to get out of Greenthorpe. When the current situation was wrapped up. But the news from Diamondus was getting worse every day. Would they ever leave?
Eventually the road veered away to the right. Row upon row of carrots lay before them.
"We'll have to cut across this field," said Susan. "Don't break any of the stalks, it'll attract carrot flies."
They made their way carefully across the field, and eventually came up to the forest. As they proceeded inwards, they found themselves wading through the decomposing leaves. After a while, Susan stopped. "This should be it. Do you see anything?" Tony looked around at the trees which grew in every direction.
"Nope."
"There must be something. Come on, let's keep going." They had trudged a bit farther when Tony suddenly fell flat on his face.
"Are you okay?"
Tony got up, spitting out a few leaves. "Yeah. The leaves cushioned the fall, but my foot hurts from whatever I tripped over." Susan scrabbled about in the leaves and unearthed a slightly rotted wooden fence post, attached to thick wires which presumably led to more fence posts. Right enough, as Tony joined her in clearing the leaves, they came up with another fence post, and then another. On the wires between these two hung a metal sign. "Danger - Radioactivity."
"Y'know, I'm thinking..."
"That we should leave? Yeah."

"I should deal with him," exclaimed Louie. His expression was grim, finally revealing a sign of emotion. "It's my fault he's there."
He edged round a mound of scrap metal to the sofa, where Tony was watching television. Several more days had passed, and Louie was getting restless.
"Departures from Diamondus are being plagued by delays. One of the biggest such delays is immigration screening. Officials are doing their best to make sure that nobody who views refugees as traitors are allowed aboard the ships to cause havoc. But many people are prepared to risk a dangerous journey if it means getting out of a dangerous city. Violence here has escalated over recent weeks, and people are beginning to question the decision to end commercial flights. Shona Corran, Blue Rock News, Felpana."
"Even with those delays, the refugees will be here before the mansion is safe," said Louie. "There's been no sign of any special government forces. You'd think with the Peddleburg camp being set up so close, they'd at least be concerned." He gazed at the television. "Think of the media coverage, after all." He looked away as a picture of Gary Parker came up. If that guy became governor, there'd be hell to pay.
"Don't do anything rash," advised Tony. "Do you know what you're dealing with?"
"I'm dealing with a vampire."
"And that's your specialist subject."
"Yes, I would think so." He swept out of the room. In the hall, he met Susan.
"Is Tony still slouched in front of the TV?" she asked. Louie nodded an affirmation.
"Shouldn't you be doing something about this mess?" she asked Tony upon entering the room.
"I'm not moving until I get a Geiger counter."
"There's one on this panel here," she replied, gesturing towards a carefully extracted portion of his ship.
"Yeah, that's how I know I'm safe here. And I'm not lugging that thing around."
"Neither of us were even affected. You're probably getting a lot more radiation from the TV."
"Right. What channel do you want to watch?"
"109," said Susan, and she sat down. "By the way, you're my cousin."
"What?"
"Everyone thinks Tom's away, and you've been seen coming and going. So you're my cousin, if anybody asks."
"Ah-hah," said Tony, grinning. A few minutes later, Tom came downstairs and joined them on the couch.
"I've done it," he said.
"What? How?" asked Susan.
"I think I managed to find the most obscure loophole ever. According to our treaty with Muckamo, land on either planet can be held by anyone who has occupation rights on either planet. This means that land on Carrotus can be held by anyone with any kind of Carrotus occupation rights. They can also own anything on the land. Now, under the local burial laws, people who have died are given limited occupation rights to their place of burial. The Muckamo treaty doesn't mention specific occupation rights, so it doesn't matter if they're limited or not. The treaty was signed before Louie died. Now, under the Death Certification Verification Act..."
"Stop, please stop," said Susan, despairingly. "We believe you."
"Right, right. Sorry. So do either of you know where Louie is?"

Gary put the phone down. So Thomas Bradhurst had returned, and there were people staying with him. Why would he be hiding?

Louie walked up to the mansion, cloaked in twilight. Being a vampire, his night vision was excellent, but there were still plenty of pitch-black shadows for an assailant to lurk in. He slid up to the door, raised his hand to the large brass doorknocker, and knocked it twice. He could hear the thumps echoing around the cavernous main hallway. He'd given up the element of surprise, but Theodore will have known he was coming. This way, he overstated his confidence. Not that he wasn't convinced this would be easy. Theodore must have had very little to eat in the last few days. Louie remembered that when he first awoke in his coffin, it had been days before he became reasonably adept at catching prey. And, by this time, the marines would be unpalatable. He clasped the door handle and pushed. There was no need to turn it. The lock had given way decades ago and lay in pieces under the cobwebs on the floor. The door swung wide open. Louie entered the hall, passing through the frame in which the inner doors had once stood. He took up position just inside, and called out Theodore's name. The only response was his own echo and the scurrying sound of a fleeing rat. Louie resisted the urge to hunt, and began to proceed slowly down the hallway. Theodore would probably be in the library, as it was the warmest room. Louie had wondered if the books helped to insulate it. He could do with some insulation himself. A light but cold breeze had followed him inside. Louie headed for the drawing room. From there, a spiral staircase led up to a room adjoining the library. It wasn't the most obvious route, and there were no hidden corners for anyone to lurk in. He was about to enter the drawing room when he heard a sound from a room across the hall. Coughing? No... Whimpering. He changed course and cautiously entered the morning room. There, huddled in a wicker armchair, sat Theodore. His head was in his hands, and Louie could hear him sobbing. Louie relaxed, and Theodore used his opportunity to strike.

Chapter 17: Oblivion by Cobra.

It was still with her. Stars, those blazing masses of burning gas, so distant that they were like flecks, distant reflections cast by some miraculous diamond. Even through the rapidly-curling corners of her sight where the stars were being consumed by inwardly-folding explosions of purple and orange, it was beautiful. The haze of her mind was trying to blend it into the cloud of other nearly-forgotten memories, but it was if they were burned into whatever remained of her eyes.
But those stars! She had seen them before, had she not? They didn’t move, but when was she able to see them? Common sense would suggest that she had seen them, but she could not remember. Perhaps she was thinking too much, perhaps she should instead try to catch one of the fleeting memories. But they escaped her so easily.
Her brain had been slowed by the Jade Dawn, no doubt. She could think clearer than this once. It hit her that she had been sitting in the place they left her for quite some time. It just had not registered in her brain to get up.
Perhaps this mental haze was how she and her siblings were enslaved. With addled brains from the poisoned water, they were encouraged to bury all thoughts deep within the poison. Once it became habit, then they would only drift deeper and deeper into the haze until their bodies were mindless vegetables. But who wanted vegetables? Who wanted worthless bodies that consumed resources?
Of balance and long-suffering they had been taught; noble goals indeed, but also an underhand way of making slaves. How foolish had she been! Running to them to flee from her, only to find that her comforter had been using her. She cursed herself for letting herself fall for such a ploy, and tried to rise. Her feet felt like they were smoldering with streaks of pain linking the places where her damp knees had came in contact with the green-powdered ground. Staggering against the wall, the open wounds on her paws grated against the rough surface, causing her eyes to burn with tears, literally. She shrieked and fell, trying to keep her paws from sinking into her sockets. Was there still some Jade Dawn in her eyes?
They had poured a fluid on her. That’s what she needed to find. One arm was forced away from her eyes and she started feeling around her robe in hopes of finding some hidden concentration of it. Panic was breaking through her normally deathly calm mind. She had to find it, somewhere! Somewhere somehow before it burned clear through her head, or before her self-possessed limbs killed her.
The hem of her robes! It seemed that the fluid had traveled down (as fluids often do) and had collected in the worn hem of her robes. She forced her other hand down and breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the rippling snap of fabric tearing. Before it was all completely separated she was already pressing it deep into her eyes. It hurt with a dull pain, but it the fire was gone.
Rising painfully to her feet, she tried to take a few steps but proceeded to walk into a wall. After regaining her bearings, she tied the fabric around her head. Hands were necessary for finding her way. Keeping one paw on the wall, the other stretched out in front of herself, she went straight ahead at a leery pace. It was no easy task trying to maneuver. Maybe if she crawled? No, she couldn’t let herself do that. She would be too vulnerable. She tried to concentrate on her feet, namely feeling the ground beneath her as she walked to see when pavement turned to grass or gravel. It was far from fast as she grazed her nails on the ground so less uniform than the crystal floors she once knew.
When the wall ended, she stopped and contemplated. It took quite some time for her brain to realize that she had been just standing there stupidly, just thinking about what to do next. With no other options, she just continued ahead.
Where did she want to go? While she was lying on her back as her vision faded, the clear stars had brought back a memory. They had been that clear ages ago, at the Pneum Arlik. Finally her mind registered a place! She could not remember where she grew up, but that place had been significant. Somehow. She was there once, was she not?
As time ebbed in a fashion she could not sense in the slightest, she made progress into a town of sorts, as far as she could tell. The other creatures were invisible to her, but far from silent as she heard whispers of soft, fading steps away from her. Soon the soft steps became more of a clatter, and there were people talking. It was a language that she knew, but she could not hear more than gasps and someone telling another not to stare. Not that it mattered, not like she would ever catch anyone ever staring at her again.
If she had emotions, she would have cried.
For the most part, the creatures avoided her, running away or holding still, thinking they could hide but she could still hear their breathing. Her aching fingers grazed one of the hiders once, and it inhaled sharply but stayed still. As much as she wanted to cry out about the injustice, she remained silent.
The loyal ground revealed to her that she was in a town, for the surface became more polished and there were fewer clumps of grass. The walls were sandstone though, she could tell from the roughness, especially after she ran into one, bashing her knee and chin into it. Facing defeat and with no logic to help her, she sat with her back to the wall and listlessly felt the wind caressing her lips.
“For the love of…what are you?” she heard. Who was the speaker? To her left, about a yard away, somewhat feminine yet rougher than a woman’s wont. “I...I am lost. Tell me, how can I get to the Pneum Arlik?” she didn’t know what else to say. She pulled at the wallet, debating with herself. If she offered this person money, she’d never know if she had enough, or if was robbed, and there was no way she could put her fate in the hands of a stranger.
Paws tentatively reached for her arms, trying not to touch the open sores. She recoiled, but the touch was gentle. “I am not going to hurt you. Please, I only want to help you. My name is Erditine.” She could feel retracted claws on her rescuer’s paws, and fur rougher than her own, yet not completely ragged. The jerk upwards revealed Erditine was not too strong.
“I need to get to the Pneum Arlik, please. I-I will pay you for your trouble if you do no harm to me.” She raised the wallet, but kept her fingers clenched about it in case they tried to take it from her. “There is nothing to worry about, my friend. My path takes me there, and you will be no burden. We are not far.” They linked arms, and started off with a pace so much more confident than she had been in ages.
“Thank you.” She uttered silently. “I would have been alone in the dark if you had not stopped for me.”
“Think nothing of it. Who would I be, to leave someone wandering alone? It is for this reason that our society has fallen to war and left our souls desolate and searching.” Then there was a silence that she hardly noticed. While her reality was still dawning upon her, Erditine broke the silence. “What is your name, my friend?”
She did not know what to say. Her school had given no one a name, to unify them. They had been encouraged to call the others siblings to show no favoritism. Was there a name for her before her siblings took her in? “I do not have a name.”
“Every being has a name, and every name has a meaning. Even if you do not have one to tell me, there must be one that only you know. Until you reveal it to yourself, I shall call you Neoma, for I know that you have traveled far.”
“How do you know this?”
“I am a seer. It was revealed to me the moment I saw you.” She, Neoma for now, remembered how amongst her siblings there were supposed seers who divined in the waters. Already she had distrust for Erditine.
“This is no ordinary time. There is a new era for this age, and all the beings of Magic are being drawn to this area. Each race has a different reason and a different legend that pulls them, but they are all being called. Even the ones who have forsaken the old ways are feeling the calling on their souls.” As Erditine spoke, she felt something radiate heat next to her right shoulder, and a slight ruffle of her fur. “A fire pixie! See, they are coming! Ah…I am sorry. I forgot.”
“Think nothing of it, and do not let my affliction affect your method of speech.”
Erditine shifted slightly, then regained her composure and they started walking at a faster pace. “But as I was saying, even the creatures who deny the magic inside them are arriving. Even vile creatures in which there is no hope and nothing truly alive about them are regrowing their souls. Something important is happening.”
Then silence. Erditine hummed some epic to herself as they crunched though the undergrowth, and she tripped a couple times over some hidden branches. Something pulled at her mind for a moment, asking if this was an uncomfortable silence, but it faded into the haze.

This haze enveloped her as she robotically went forward. Erditine would sometimes hush and stop, then after a minute of silence whisper dramatically about the sight of a dryad or centaur-being. They crossed a stream trying to hop from stone to stone, but she ended up falling into the water after misjudging a direction from Erditine. It was instant panic as she vaulted herself blindly in almost every direction, trying to find the shore, trying to forget the image of her own flesh burning and melting amongst the waters of Chrysalis. Once she reached dry ground she rent her robes from her body, fearing that some of the horrid powder remained on her. Into her mind was projected a hope, there might be some of the healing agent upon her blindfold! Perhaps it had not gotten saturated and diluted in the fall. Aching paws searched the fabric, bringing it down and ripping some fur off as she pulled at the fabric but felt nothing but damp, heavy fibers. She cried some, causing fire to burn her injured tear ducts, which lead to uncontrolled shaking.
Erditine had almost not existed through the whole ordeal, but soon Neoma felt Erditine’s paws trying to pull her up and her waterlogged garments back onto her body. Her blindfold was tied around her head painfully tight with fur wrapped through every contour of the knot. “I will not ask what caused you to do that, but do not do it again.” It was a harsh command, but she refused to answer. She was pulled up to her feet and they went at a more grueling pace, Erditine practically dragging her through underbrush and nets of weeds. “We are so close. We should make it there by mid-day.” Neoma wondered a moment. Had they been traveling at night? Not that it mattered to the eternal night that ruled her eyelids.

Hours passed, supposedly, and the underbrush became thinner with larger patches of vines, causing Erditine to take them through a serpentine path. “We are at the beginning of the most solaced place.” Erditine said with a certain melodramatic reverence. “I’m surprised though, I would have pictured the gathering to be more obvious.”
She let go of her arm, causing Neoma to suddenly feel alone. She stretched out her arms as far as they could go, but there was nothing. Slight panic seeped in the crevices of her brain as the only sensation gripping her to reality was the ground against her feet. She had gotten too accustomed to someone else guiding her. Cynically she remembered her “family.” They had been guiding her too, in a sense. Then left her alone in darkness.
“Erditine?” she called out. Perhaps there was a muffled reply. Figures, she’d get lead this far then be abandoned. She tried to walk forward, and managed to get in about twenty paces when her fingers brushed sandstone. It had been carved once, now worn down to nearly smooth. She had known this once. She had felt these very carvings once.
It was a gateway. The touch had dredged up the memory of this place! She had loved it once; she had lived on this planet. This had been the place she considered her haven. Hardly anyone else would follow her here for fear of the magic creatures. But she had been a skeptic, and grown to accept the few creatures that revealed themselves to her.
But the fear from the others, it was unjustified. The Mills of the Giants were deserted and had been for ages. It was given the name from a giant millstone found within one of the zeniths, but all of the machinery to make it work had eroded by the time it was first discovered and documented. All of the steps were twice as high as required for most creatures, and the buildings were majestically massive.
She had climbed to the top of the zenith in the center of the Mills, and looked over all the landscape. The sun had been so intense, the shadows so deep and purple, she felt like she could be eternal in that moment. It had never been that bright to her before, even for the months after that she crawled up to the same spot vainly seeking the same glory. At last! A memory untainted! Her eyes burned again as the tear ducts strained to work as they once did. Keeping a hold of the archway, she slid to the ground and wrung her hands, trying to keep them from her eyes. “Erditine?” she called out, but there was no reply.
There was a place where the ground had sank in upon her, and she knew it was about six yards from one of the archways. But her searching fingers could not decipher which archway she was at, so she crawled forward, sending her paws out in hopes of not falling blindly into any chasm. Her left touched a pool, a warm pool. She recoiled, and tried to veer more to the right, but the pool extended there, and was increasing at a jarring pace. She stood up and threw herself backwards, but it was faster than her and soaked through the fur on her feet. All sense of direction lost, she flailed out and went straight through the warm puddle until her arms touched something also warm and damp.
A warm, nearly metallic odor was in the air. It was something familiar, but she could not remember what it was. She had smelled it recently, had she not? But then her paws ran across a patch of fur. It was rough fur. And the fabric that covered most of it was familiar feeling.
She felt as if cold fire had been lit on her spine. The pool made sense. The smell made sense. Her arms started shaking as she pulled at the limb in front of her, trying to ignore the blood that drenched it and now her, pulling at it, trying to feel for a heartbeat or a reaction. Nothing, She stumbled back, trying to get out of the liquid at her feet. It was too much, first her eyes and now this. She fell to her knees, shaking with near epileptic proportion.
The haze of her mind made fractals out of the memories she had of touching Erditine’s body and killed the common sense that suggested she run. Her brain indeed did shut off until she felt a softly-furred paw touch her jaw with certain tenderness. She recoiled slightly, for it had been so long ago that she had felt such a contact with another. “Please, I cannot see you. Do not hurt me.” The other did not step away, but instead put out a hand to steady her. She felt strong limbs pull her forward, and her arm was pulled up. Out of the darkness, she felt something rough and wet on her wounded paws, and tried to wrest her arm away but the other was too strong. “Stop.” She uttered, confusion being the only emotion her voice betrayed.
The creature let out a laugh. Into Neoma’s mind was projected the picture of a beautiful rabbit throwing her head back. The laugh was musical, a thousand little bells all chiming in harmony, the sweetest songbirds in harmony, but with a narcotic core reminiscent of Jade Dawn, something that made her brain feel like it was folding in upon itself. Not that her brain really minded, it was almost a relief to sink into the endless depths of the voice. It had all the beauty of spilled blood, so deep, so rich, but such a loss.
“Why did you kill Erditine?” she said softly through the thickness in her mouth. The creature laughed again. “Seers and sorcerers are the way of what is now gone. Did you really want to listen to her endlessly go on about the stars and signs in the water?” Neoma was losing herself in the voice again. Signs in the water, yes that was something she could not trust. No one could trust them; she had every right to not want to be with Erditine. “But why? Why is she dead?”
No response, but the creature pulled her closer. She tried to put up her arms to stop this, but the creature was stronger. The fabric around her eyes was ripped off, and sudden sharp pain sank into the near-numb socket. She could not move, she could not see what was being done to her. But the pain, it was an abyss she was falling all too fast into. The creature pulled away and whispered into her ear, as little flecks of blood carried on her breath and into streamed onto the sensitive skin “You will see your friend before you die. You will see what happens to petty prophets. There is a new age coming, one where we will not look to the stars for answer.” Her mouth was pulled away from her ear, and once again pain shot through her, through the other eye.
She pulled away, and the creature let her go. She writhed on the ground as her eye felt as if it was surrounded by smoke and being smothered. She rolled on to her stomach and brought her paws up to her face, determined to pull the remnants of her eye out if it came to it. The closer she brought her paws, the clearer her mind seemed to get. In fact, with her paws completely covering her eyes, the pain was nearly gone. But determined and without the neural connections to advise her otherwise, she started to sink her nails into her eyelids, but the creature kicked her so she could not. Her head cracked on the ground, and her eyes burned with tears, but not the acidic pain that she had been used to. She curled up, forearms pressed to her eyes. As she wept for herself and for Erditine, she fell forward and tried to sink her nails into the ground. Lying there, she felt warmth trickle down her face. It went in to her mouth, and although she could taste the rank of blood, it was only in small doses, the rest was salt. Aghast, she opened her eyes. Through alabaster it seemed that she was looking, the entire world shapeless like the images behind her eyes. But as she brought her paw to her face, she could tell the hue difference between the blood and the fur. With reflexes she did not know she possessed, she threw her head up to behold the sky but the sun stung her eyes and she was forced to regard the ground again, only now her eyes had blank spots.
But she saw! For a moment, even through a haze, her eyes beheld something more than oblivion!

Chapter 18: The trouble with Icarus by Spaztic

"It's just a hassle, you know?" Icarus's drink careened through the air nearly hitting the various control panels and landing with a gentle thud back on the table. "I mean such unfathomable distances and such an appallingly uninspiring view the whole time." He sighed loudly and leaned back into the chair without much grace. "Back and forth and to and fro and yadayada. You'd think the technology would improve somewhat and make the whole business less disconcerting."
Naomi smiled as her head nodded. "Travelling and taxiing must have some redeeming quality...”, she began, "I mean, you've been doing this for years you said."
Icarus's head tilted and he looked towards the ceiling as if in deeper thought than this question would normally require answering. "Well, the money," he said, "and you meet some of the most interesting people and you see some amazing worlds...” In normal circumstances this introduction would branch into further conversation, but Icarus was having some issues moving his tongue which had otherwise neglected to feel like a part of his body since about ten minutes ago.

A brief moment of silence passed that was neither uncomfortable nor productive. Icarus carefully refilled their glasses. Naomi deemed the pause worthy of a change in subject, took a sip and stated, "Its funny really, I was going to university on Carrotus to become a doctor. I was so caught up in it, but all it took was this random happenstance for me to give it all up on a moment's notice and realize it was never important to me." Icarus wondered if the drinks had loosed her tongue a little more than would be good for them both right now. He promptly forgot he had even had this thought as he watched Naomi's lips move. It was deeply reassuring that after all these years Naomi would still drop everything for him. A sense of peace saturated his numb limbs as Verity popped onto the deck.
"Good ...day," she began, coming into the word slowly.
"Yes, day, night, evening, its space so whatever sounds good at the moment," chuckled Icarus. "You know we really appreciate you fixing the problems we were having, the ships on autopilot now and we should be getting to Carrotus sooner or later. I don't really enjoy travelling. These drinks we're having are good and I think I will have another. Me and Naomi here were just catching up and-"
"I'm sorry," interrupted Naomi, laughing, "He doesn't talk much, but when he starts he just goes on about nothing important." Verity smiled politely.
"Yes, I was just about to head to my quarters to get some rest," she said, "and was wondering if everything has been running smoothly."
"Yeah, you did a fantastic job fixing everything," said Icarus enthusiastically, once again sloshing his drink around. A little bit sloshed out right onto a control panel, dripped down onto the circuitry, and caused a delightful display of sparks. The panel's lights flickered off. Icarus could be heard swearing at himself. "Knock on wood," he said lamely.
Naomi sighed, "We'll take care of this one, you can go get some rest. There is a small cabin with food and drinks if you're interested, take whatever you like." They exchanged a few more words and soon Verity was walking and climbing calmly through the ship. She took a bit of food from the cabin and plopped onto a mattress that seemed shoved into the corner. Grabbing a book from her bag, she sat and ate as she read, occasionally looking out the southern window towards war-ravaged Diamondus sinking slowly into visual obscurity. Sometime later she slipped into the comforting void of unconsciousness.

Something similar to a few hours later, she was jolted upright and then rolled onto the floor along with other surprise acrobatics. Most people would have taken a moment to regain composure before slowly getting up and saying things like "What?" Verity, however, immediately jumped back onto her feet after having stopped rolling and circled the room wildly, fully alert, wondering what had just happened. A small speaker in the corner of the room flickered with static before Icarus's voice could be heard. "Holy crap," he stated. Verity paused and took these words into consideration. "It would be most gracious if you could come onto the deck, begging your pardon. Thank you!" The speaker clicked off. Verity shrugged, annoyed but curious, and soon made her way towards the deck.

Just as she entered the ship violently shook again. This time it was accompanied by a loud and startling 'BANG!' Icarus's seat swiveled around. "You're just in time," he said, "we were just getting around to dying and all...”

"Stop saying that!" yelled Naomi. Verity stood with her arms straight and hands open keeping balance. "Look, apparently there's some ship trying to kill us," she explained, motioning Verity to come forward and look at the screens. "See, right there-", she pointed at one and Verity's eyes followed before widening. "We don't know why, and everything we've tried to do to communicate has gotten no response. Just now they opened fire on us! I think they've been trying to take out engines on the left wing...”
Verity knew what was coming next; she just didn't know how to explain it without making everything seem that much worse.

Chapter 19: My name is Jesse by Coppertop.

"Hey, wake up. You can't stay here."
Jesse blinked confusedly at the large dark shape stooping over him. The figure played a flashlight over him, making him wince and shield his eyes when the light was turned onto his face.
"Wha...?"
"You're not supposed to be here," the stranger said authoritatively. "Let's go."
Jesse looked around blearily, noting the second figure behind the first, half lost in the darkness. The dim lamp that illuminated the park bench where he had been sleeping faltered, and blinked off briefly before coming back on, even dimmer.
"Come on," the first stranger said, impatient now. Jesse rose to his feet awkwardly. Now that the flashlight wasn't blinding him, he could see that the pair wore uniforms.
Packing some heat too, he noticed the weapons they wore, prominently on their belts. Expecting trouble?
The officers escorted Jesse out of the park. He assumed they were taking him to the local police station or something.
"Where're you from, kid?" the first officer inquired, managing to make the question sound friendly. As of yet, the second guy hadn't said anything, and was looking decidedly hostile.
"I - I don't -" Jesse feigned confusion. He was not going to be sent back.
"You even sober?" the second cop asked caustically. Jesse looked away belligerently.
"I don't drink."
"Give him a chance to wake up, Demyas." Demyas shot a venomous glare at his partner, but he shut up. His partner went on sympathetically.
"Where do you live, kid? What's your name?"
Jesse hesitated, suddenly wary. "My name's ... Jesse," he said, deciding to omit his last name. If one of the cops recognized it and connected Jesse to his father, Jesse's life would likely be forfeit.
"Where're you from?" Demyas demanded, suspicion in every line of his body.
"I ... I can't remember," Jesse improvised.
"We'll see," Demyas said, and then said nothing more.
They left the grass for the road. The pavement was rough and still sun-warmed from the previous day. At the corner Jesse saw a large officious building, ill-lit by flickering street lamps. They headed for it.
There was a security guard outside. The officers herded Jesse by, through the door and past a bored-looking receptionist. Demyas led Jesse into a large room with uncomfortable chairs, while his partner paused for a word with the receptionist before following them.
They were obviously waiting for someone. Jesse studied his captors, trying to judge their characters as his father had taught him.
Demyas was tense and nervous. He was, Jesse thought, loyal but he hated his job and his partner. He was clearly waiting for betrayal.
Officer Syamin - Jesse could read his name on his jacket now - was friendly in an arrogant way, as if he were supremely confident in his popularity. He looked untrustworthy. Jesse judged him a spy, and thought that Demyas was aware of it, and unhappy about it.
The door opened and a sooty black rabbit with flat, cold eyes walked in. Demyas and Syamin straightened and saluted. Jesse tensed. He had a premonition of danger. The black rabbit glared suspiciously at Jesse before he turned his dead eyes to Demyas.
"It doesn't take two experienced officers to bring in a half-dead kid," he said contemptuously. "Return to your patrol, officer."
Demyas looked black, and Syamin smug. He smirked at the black rabbit as Demyas left the room. His superior frowned but said nothing. Syamin's smile slipped.
Jesse must have made some small movement, because the attention of both officers snapped to him. The teenager groaned mentally. Syamin he could handle. The newcomer he wasn't so sure about.
"What's your name?" the black rabbit demanded brusquely.
Jesse told him quietly. The rabbit sneered.
"Jesse what?"
"Just Jesse."
"Where do you live?"
"I don't remember."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm just passing through."
The black rabbit glared at Syamin. "Why did you bring him in?"
"Thought he'd be useful," Syamin said defensively. "Kid, all by himself, no one to come looking for him, passing from town to town. He could pick up a lot of info."
"I see. And have you asked if he was alone? Do you know that no one will come looking for him? He could be a runaway."
"Ah ..." Syamin looked shamefaced. The other rabbit turned back to Jesse, who smirked and sprawled himself in the nearest chair.
"Who are you with?"
"Nobody," Jesse drawled, having made the transition from frightened kid to insolent rebel.
"Who are your parents?"
"Don't have any," Jesse said lazily, watching the black rabbit's reactions closely.
"Everyone has parents," the other snapped.
"I don't." Jesse paused. Then, "exactly why am I here, officer ...?"
"Adrian," the black rabbit said curtly. "You're here because you were trespassing on private property."
Jesse refrained from telling Adrian that the sign posted prominently in front of the park had declared it public. Clearly the southern government was running low on spies.
"That's not a serious offense," he said carefully. "What's the penalty, just a warning?"
"Yeah," Adrian said reluctantly, cold eyes suspicious.
"Great. I'll consider myself warned," Jesse said, rising and heading for the door. Syamin put a restraining hand on the teenager's thin shoulder.
Jesse turned slowly, tensing. His father had shown him how to deal with any violence that came his way, and he was more than ready to use that training.
That's something Miss Savon didn't count on - the great retired General Aimon, passing on all of his vaunted fighting techniques to his son.
"Is there a problem, officer?" he asked coolly.
"We didn't say you could go yet, Jesse," Syamin said, his false friendliness painfully obvious. Jesse jerked away from the officer's touch.
"Did I say I cared?"
"That attitude's going to get you in trouble," Adrian observed. Jesse smirked.
"I thought I was already in trouble?"
Syamin darted a look at Adrian. His superior looked back, stone-faced.
"I told you he was dangerous," Syamin whined. "Demyas could handle him, I'm not sure I can."
"He's just a kid," Adrian snapped.
"Then why can't I leave?" Jesse interjected. Adrian scowled.
"Syamin can't keep his mouth shut, that's why. I can't risk your repeating what you've heard to anyone, Jesse. You're smart enough to figure that out." His tone was patronizing. Jesse sighed.
"I'm expected elsewhere, officer. Goodbye."
Syamin grabbed Jesse's arm. That was all the excuse Jesse needed. Grasping Syamin's wrist, he dug his fingers in, pressing the tendon into the bone. Syamin gasped and released the teenager as his hand went nerveless.
"Don't touch me again," Jesse warned the startled cop. Syamin snarled, all traces of amiability gone.
"You little brat!" He went for his gun with his other hand, ignoring Adrian's sharp command to back down. Jesse knocked it out of his hand before he even had it aimed. The weapon went off, shattering the flourescent lights overhead and sending a shower of sparks onto the carpet. Jesse used the distraction to drive his fist into Syamin's stomach, and finished by striking the winded rabbit on the temple, laying him out unconscious.
Adrian backed away cautiously as Jesse straightened and faced him. The teenager looked at the spymaster with hollow eyes.
"I know you're experienced," he told Adrian distantly. "I'd like to know what possessed you to talk so openly in front of me. Did you think you could just kill me if you couldn't buy me?"
"I miscalculated," Adrian admitted, eyes keen. "Are you planning to kill me yourself?"
"Maybe," Jesse said thoughtfully. Adrian's mask slipped enough to reveal some nervousness.
The sharp scent of smoke and burning carpet distracted the pair for a moment. Jesse realized that Syamin's shot had severed the wires in the light, showering sparks over the carpet and igniting it. The fire was growing rapidly.
I could kill him now and no one would know that it wasn't the fire.
The spymaster had come to the same conclusions apparently, because he took a step towards Jesse and struck.
Jesse was prepared for it. He met Adrian's attack, countering it and dodging back. The black rabbit stalked the white through the smoke, until Jesse tired of the cat-and-mouse game. He sidestepped Adrian's next strike, then closed in behind the spy, catching Adrian in the small of the back with a powerful punch. Adrian stiffened soundlessly, and Jesse danced out of range before his opponent could recover. Adrian straightened, and turned to face Jesse.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jesse."
The youth darted in, but Adrian was not quite as unprepared as he appeared. He lashed out, catching Jesse in the stomach with a foot at the same time as Jesse delivered a blow to Adrian's head. Off balance and stunned, Adrian dropped to his knees, further disoriented by the smoke, fumes and flickering firelight.
Jesse staggered out of the building, coughing violently. The guard and receptionist were long gone. Demyas was off on patrol, leaving the building deserted save for Jesse and his interrogators.
By the time Jesse could breathe again, the building was consumed in flames. He watched the station burn for a moment, thinking of another fire, wondering if Adrian had survived as he had. Then he turned and walked into the night.

Chapter 20: Embrace by SlaYo.

The Earian marketplace was filled with life during the festival of the moon.
Louie Greenthorpe and his good friend Wallace Parker were dancing ecstatically in the midst of the enormous crowd. Wallace's father was a good friend of mister Greenthorpe and thanks to him Louie was allowed to leave Greenthorpe for several days. Their goodbye had been rather strange, Lawrence had tears in his eyes, it almost felt as if they would not see each other again.
But his father had always been rather protective of him, he was most likely afraid to come to face with that fact that his son had grown up.
Rabbits from all over Carrotus had gathered in Earian to celebrate the festival of the moon, which was the start of a new year. Fancy dressed street artists were playing joyful music as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon, shining the last few rays of sunlight of this year over their faces.
They had met with several people in a bar a few hours before the countdown until the most celebrated night of the year began and ran down the streets trying to soak up as much of the atmosphere as possible. Every little street was filled with rabbits from different parts of the world; all of them dressed in the garments of their own culture, different kinds of music fed their souls building up the inner excitement. Louie and Wallace found their way into a pub and were dancing with a pair of lovely and rather outgoing twins. The drinks flowed aplenty and the music was too loud for them to hold a normal conversation. But the looks in their eyes were plenty to communicate.
Wallace went to the bar and returned with another round of shots of spiked lemoncello.
The clock counted down the minutes and the two young men ran outside. The sun had gone down and fireworks were lit and exploded into bundles of brightly colored lights over the docks, coloring the dark sky. “Hah, this looks fantastic. It must be one of the best days I’ve ever had.” Louie said and he laughed and brought a toast to his friend Wallace. “I can’t believe you’re father allowed you to come, but I wouldn’t have wanted to celebrate this with anyone else… well, with the exception of those twins maybe. He laughed hard and finished his shot of spiked lemoncello.
They sat on two barrels standing by the docks and admired the spectacle, a large row of people made their way through the streets, all dressed in ridiculous, yet festive uniforms.
Wallace tapped Louie on the shoulder a little later and pointed down the street "I think you have an admirer." Louie turned around and looked into the face of the most gorgeous, young rabbit he had ever seen. She must have been close to his age and her eyes had the sparkle of a diamond to them. They seemed to grab him and lure him closer towards her. He set a few steps in her direction and she walked towards him, his heart was beating in his throat. Wallace's eyes were equally fixated on her beautiful face. A faint and warm glow seemed to surround her as she gracefully moved her feet over the cold, marble pavement. Louie took her small hand in his and placed a soft kiss on the palm of it, not breaking away from her breathtaking eyes. "My name is Louie Greenthorpe, miss. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?" He spoke softly, encouraged by the liquid fuel that had flown freely tonight. "I am Estella Bane, it is a pleasure to meet you, Louie Greenthorpe." She replied.
He asked her for a dance and but a moment later they were dancing on the shiny marble, she had her arms wrapped around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. This was all the introduction they had needed He had never met a girl like her before. The only ones he had spoken to were the stiff upper lip girls that he had seen on one of his father’s parties. This girl was so much more different than them. So much more alive, friendly and beautiful. "Would you like to go for a short walk?" She suggested when the musicians started to play a more cheerful tune. And he couldn’t say no, he did not want to.

They walked along the shoreline, the water softly rippled as they entered it with their bare feet.
The beach was calm and almost empty, save from a few youngsters that were sleeping in the soft sand. Drunk and fulfilled.
"Look at them, hollow caskets, death could come and claim those mortal fools whenever it's ready for them. And yet they think the life they lead is so beautiful and perfect." She said with a macabre tone to her voice that made Louie's body shiver, it was an odd combination of feelings he was experiencing at that moment, most of them hormonal and primal in nature.
"Surely you must see the beauty in life my dear." He whispered into her ear.
"I have, I’ve seen you. But until you see everything in the same way that I have seen it, you do not know what true beauty is." She said as she slowly licked his cheek.
"You’re such a pretty boy." She said followed by a soft sigh. "And I’m the lucky girl that gets to keep you for all eternity."
Louie looked down in the water at his reflection and a shock went through his body. He could only see his. Estella had no reflection, he looked up and his eyes met hers, they were blood red.
His head filled with irrational thoughts, voices screaming at him that he should leave. A perfect pandemonium. Her smile was wide and her canines had grown several inches. The last thing he could hear was the crackle of fireworks high up in the sky above him.
She sank her teeth into his neck, sucking him dry of life. He imagined the pain would be horrible. But all he felt was a unification of two souls, the perfect harmony of the world in his head.
A perfect bright light filled him up on the inside. And then there was nothing as his body sank into the salty water of the sea.

He woke up several months later, veiled in darkness. It seemed like he was unable to escape from his dark grave until his lust for hunger got the better of him.
His two hands smashed through the wooden lid of his coffin and after several more punches it gave away. Louie tried to crawl out of his coffin and fell down on the hard ground. He had a hard time standing up. His legs didn't want to hold the weight on top of them and he fell down to the floor a few more times, crawling towards the exit of his crypt.
He had not used his muscles in months and his body was asking more from him then he could give. He stopped to take a breath, but his lungs had died along with him. He could inhale nothing and this made him panic. He clawed at his chest, but the hand on his chest was not answered by the familiar beat. He managed to grab the door handle and the door slowly opened with a creak, the sun blinded him and he pushed his head into to sand, trying to scream, but no sound escaped from his rotting mouth. He managed to reach the pond and slowly let himself sink into it… he couldn't breathe. He didn't have to but he felt the urge to inhale.
What was happening to him? He took a few sips from the water in the pond but it hurt as it found its way through his body, the pain was terrible and plenty, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He heaved, salty and burning tears in his eyes, fresh water running down his chest.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the bright and fresh world around him and he saw Estella sitting on the porch with the body of a young girl near her feet. "Hello baby. You must be starving."
His mind he had lost, but his unstill stomach ached for a drink of the young virgin. And he gave in…

Theodore’s fangs caught Louie completely off-guard and the monstrosity that was once an innocent man left his mark in Louie’s cold cheek. The sight of blood made Theodore lose the last bit of sanity he had left. “You shall not leave this place alive, master, I must feed, I must.” He heard the man speak. Poor Theodor had been through an incomplete embrace. An incomplete embrace left people in a state of delusion and mania. His sinister voice would make any normal man tremble in fear. This spectacle was not one witnessed by a normal man however. This house was filled with beasts. And the beast in Louie was awakened by the mere sight of the pure evil in front of him. He reached for his sickles that had dried out mud and strands of yellowing grass on it and had not been used for gardening for plenty of time. They would be put to good use now however and unleashed their fury upon the walking corpse that was standing but a few meters away from him. The sickles cut through the air, releasing a soft gasp of air with every strike they made. Theodore let himself sink back into the chair, missing the blades by an inch. He kicked Louie against the forearms, making him drop the weapons. The fiend reached for one but Louie grabbed him by his upper arm and slashed his neck open with the other. Within a breath, Louie stood behind Theodore and cut open his back, gutting him like a fish. But the strong man did not give up the easily, he kicked Louie into the chair. The vampire let go of the compact sickle he was holding. Making it fall into his own stomach. Theodore grabbed the other sickle off of the floor and made a 180 degree spin. Barely missing Louie, who had sank down into the chair.
‘That was close’ Louie thought to himself. He wanted to strike again, but Theodore jumped back and hit the Grand piano that had collected quite a bit of dust over the ages. .
“Stay still so I can kill you, you spineless worm.” Louie shouted. It seemed that the bloodlust had gotten the better of him, and his calm nature made place for the anger.
Theodore cackled and raised his sickle, preparing for his final strike. The two men faced each other, a moment that seemed frozen in time. Until Louie jumped forward, shoving the sickle deep into the intestines of Theodore who slowly sank down to the ground.
Louie grabbed him by the throat and placed his neck on the edge of the piano, before slamming the lid shut with all of his power. Theodore’s decapitated body fell down with a dull thud.
Louie turned around and leaned against the piano, taking a breath… so to speak.

Tom sat on the front porch of their house, wiping his glasses clean as he gazed into the streets of the slumbering village. His mind was deep in thought when Tony Waterback walked out onto the porch. They both looked at each other for a moment and then Tony looked at the sky, trying to find his home planet. He spotted his little, bright planet to the left of the constellation Thesus.
“Have a seat.” Said Thomas and Tony accepted the offer. “That’s my home planet, over there.”
Thomas looked, without responding. Sometimes, silence was enough to comfort a person he thought to himself. “There will be a busy time ahead for us.” Thomas finally said. Breaking the silence and trying to get Tony’s thoughts off of his home planet. It seemed to work.
“You are right, the refugees will be arriving shortly, and we have to get the mansion ready for them.”
Thomas nodded. “After we get Louie to claim the mansion.”
“Yes, exactly, after we get… What?” Tony said in surprise.
“Well, we need him to record a message on video, telling the council that he is still alive. We will need to hurry though. Remember me telling you about the death verification …”
“Oh yes, let’s not go there again.” Tony said. “We’d better hurry up and find him instead of sitting around on the porch.” Thomas nodded “We’ll get a good night sleep first. We will go look for him first thing in the morning.”

Alexander Garand pulled the trigger and as in slow motion the bullet spat out of the gun, piercing trough the body of what seemed to be a young and very hungry werewolf. It collapsed on top of the undead hunter, who could hear the rest of the pack draw in closer. The stench was unbearable and the heavy wolf on top of him prevented him from moving. He shook his body, trying to get out from underneath the corpse. The hairy body of the beast did move, but unfortunately shifted slightly upward and fell on Alexanders’ chest, weighing heavy on his lungs. The hunter cursed under his breath for all it was worth and heard that the other wolves had almost reached him. They would not just devour them like they usually would do too their prey. They would want to make him suffer for killing one of them. Alexander would die a thousand deaths tonight. The shadowy figure of what appeared to be a rabbit came moving towards him. “Help.” His lips formed the words, but he could not utter a sound. “Save your breath, on the count of three, you try to push this thing off. We don’t have much time. Six of these things will be here in about 30 seconds.” The shadowy figure and Alexander combined their strengths and managed to push the werewolf away. “Grab my hand, we have to make haste.” The hunter did not resist, this person had just saved his life. This made him trustworthy enough by his book. “We are near Greenthorpe. It’s our only chance to survive; these werewolves do not leave the woods.” They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They could almost feel the warm and moist breath of the disgusting beasts in their necks, but the wolves stopped as soon as they arrived at the edge of the woods. “Allow me to rest for a moment.” The hunter said. “The night holds many horrible secrets, it may be best for us to proceed directly to my current habitat.” “What is your name?” The young hunter asked as they walked on.
“My name is Louie Greenthorpe.” Louie turned around, the paleness of his skin could be seen through his fur. “And you are…?” Alexander pulled out his gun and held it inches away from Louie’s face. “…Very sorry about this.”

In the midst of the night a young woman made her way over to the office of Gary Parker.
The dark corridor made her nervous. The moonlight fell over a dark and gloomy portrait of a man that makes his success over the corpses of others.
“Please, step into my office miss.” A voice said over the creaky intercom.
The young rabbit almost fell down straight on her face. The high heels she was wearing were not at all comfortable and her shivering legs made it even harder to keep her balance.
But working in the office of the wealthy young man who was sure to become governor was the dream of every young secretary. She opened the door slowly and walked in. The curtains were drawn shut and the room was lit by a few candles. Gary Parker leaned against his desk and smiled as she walked in. “Miss Jones, it’s a pleasure to see you here after all. I’m sorry that this interview had to take place at such a late time. But we want our people to be prepared for everything.” He told her with a tone to his voice that made her shiver even more. His voice changed immediately when he asked her to take a seat as he took her resume in her hand. His voice so enigmatic.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Gary opened a drawer in his desk and took out a small letter opener. He walked over to the young woman and pulled back her hair. She could not resist his soft touch, a warm feeling grew in her belly and spread down to her lower pelvic area. Her breathing became a little heavier. Gary was in no mood to fulfill the fantasies that popped into the young womans’ head. He jammed the dull end of the opener in her throat with one forceful stab. He pulled the blood red object out of the soft flesh and licked it off before he placed it back into his drawer. Gary Parker’s monstrosity was only topped by his grace. He cleaned a few droplets of blood from his shirt and enjoyed this moment. The girl had fallen on her knees in front of him and clawed at his legs while gasping for breath. She wheezed as she left a trail of blood on his floor. He had no interest in her blood, or the flesh and fur on her skin. Gary was a man with high standards, her heart belonged to him, the scraps were for his dinner guests.

Alexander Garand stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Being unsure of what to do was not in his nature, but something was different here. This man, or beast had saved his life and in return he would be taking his. It didn’t seem like the right thing to do. No matter what this man had done to those people. Had he changed so much in the time he had spent behind his desk and away from the field work? “Can we get this over with, please?” Louie whispered.
Alexander felt the little droplets of sweat roll down his face. He moved the gun away from Louie’s face and pulled the trigger several times. Releasing a series of wooden bullets into a thick tree.
Louie got up “I don’t have the time for this” and he hit him across the face. Knocking him out cold ‘I guess I did change’ was Alexander’s last conscious thought.

Lawrence sat down at the same desk he had been sitting down at all those years ago. He looked at the same cradle Louie had lain in on the night his fate was sealed. Everything had gone according to plan and yet everything got screwed up horribly. He found Audrey, sitting fully clothed in the bath tub, surrounded by bottles from his liquor cabinet and bottles from her medicine cabinet.
Wet strains of her covered her lovely face. Her eyes were hollow; they had been ever since they put their son in his final resting place in the family tomb. Tobias’ pleas to spare him had fallen on deaf ears. He listened now, now that it was too late. The words of his long time friend seemed stuck in an infinite loop in his head. ‘As it was before, so it will be again.’ He would not be there to see it however; that much was clear to him. He had played his part in this game.
Lawrence retrieved his trusty service revolver from a drawer in the desk along with a box of ammo.
One bullet entered the chamber, click.
One bullet entered his brain. Sleep now, the rest was up to them.

Tobias found their bodies the next day. Audreys flesh already soft and weak from the water.
The necklace that hung around her neck formed little rippled in the water as it bopped up and down.
Lawrence had fallen from his chair and lay on the ground. The back of his head had been blown away almost completely. The soft and charred flesh around it had the consistency of rotten fruit.
Tobias stumbled back, sickened by the sight. His long time friend was death and he would never return. “Oh, Lawrence, you old fool. What are we to do…” A folder lay on the table, labeled ‘The cycle’. Tobias knew of its contents and kicked against the table in a fit of rage.
“What do you think would have happened if this had fallen into the wrong hands?” Clumsily he took the folder into his hands, the many papers inside fell on the ground. Tobias fell down on his knees to collect them and noticed to his surprise that the file had been updated. One of the pictures was labeled ‘Arcania’ “A zombie, of course, this must be him.” He flicked through the rest of the photos. One of them he recognized as the Bradhurst residence where Aruth and Moira lived with their son Damon. There were several more pictures in the folder. “Technoir, Crysallis, Pneum Arlik.” And there it was, the picture of Louie. Tobias eyes grew larger at the note Lawrence had attached to it ‘This is three hundred and seven.”

Tobias walked into the garden a short while later, after having informed the local authorities.
He had the folder with him and walked to the edge of the Greenthorpe estate. The several pictures he needed, he took with him and the rest he burned to a crisp.
He walked past the garden of lyac, which only grew on a few places in the galaxy and which would make sure this place remained profitable enough for it not to be torn down.
The police arrived, Louie lay dormant and he had just found out who the remaining people in this play were. It would be up to him now to get them together.

Chapter 21: Distortion and Misacquainting by Ducky

‘f-ck, that's frustrating’, Verity thought, as the ship came into her line of vision.
"We have to turn around."
Icarus and Naomi's heads swiveled as one towards the source of the absurd notion, disregarding the sight of the ship before them readying its missiles.
"We cleared Diamondus's atmosphere almost three hours ago, Verity," Icarus said, trying not to sound as though he was explaining two plus two to a small child. "Without a teleport we're still only halfway to Carrotus. Why would going back help us? Let’s go to Nimbus or -- "he glanced briefly at one of the screens-- "we're even close enough to Muckamo to duck under the cloud cover."

Verity sighed, looked back and forth between Icarus's and Naomi's young, but never naive, eyes, and made up her mind.
"No," she said, "We aren't. What do you two know about the Diamondus Warzone?"
There was a brief pause in which another blast rocked the ship.
"Never mind," said Verity, "I'll tell you later. Until then, I'm going to fly for a moment, if you don't mind. “She reached for the control panels, but a gold-furred paw blocked her own. Verity looked up into Naomi's eyes.
"I beg your pardon," Naomi said calmly, "but first of all, this is my ship, and I don't think anyone flies it better than I do. And secondly I may not know anything about the war here but Icarus has been flying escape transports off of Diamondus for the past thirteen months. I think I might assume enough to say that he has some idea what's going on here. With all due respect, I'm not ready to just let you take off with my ship and some c-ck-and-bull story."
Verity inclined her head, refreshed by the courage the younger woman offered.
"Understood, Naomi." She used the other rabbit's name in an acknowledgement of the new respect she had for her, and could see that Naomi appreciated it.
"I am out of line to assume that I am in any position of authority here. The situation is merely one that I believe I understand a little better than you do and it may be safer to allow me to use my knowledge. However, if you would prefer to fly the ship, I would rather you do so, although it may be advisable for you to pay attention and do exactly as I tell you." Verity spoke quickly, knowing their time was short, and hoping to disguise the note of panic she feared would creep into her voice.
Naomi slid back into her seat, her fingers light on the controls, and Verity braced her paw against the doorway of the cockpit, as another blast, stronger than the last, threatened to knock her off her feet. The local force field around the small shuttle was rapidly weakening.
"Icarus," said Verity, "they've been aiming at the left engines, have they not?" From the copilots chair Icarus nodded, his eyes focused on the screens.
"Knocking out a side engine would put us into a spin, “Verity murmured under her breath.
The shuttle shuddered as Naomi's skillful fingers maneuvered it between blasts from the opposing ship.
"That ship is a member of the party on Diamondus that's still in control. The federation is trying to prevent import and export and recently there's been theorization about a projective screen that they wanted to put into action to prevent unauthorized ships approaching or exiting the planet. I have no idea why private shuttles are being disallowed, but basically what I'm saying is that we've been locked into a synthetic orbit around the planet for the past three hours and that the planet--" here Verity waved at a bunch of symbols on one of the screens-- "is really just a projection and we've been blocked from seeing the real planet which is still right underneath us. They're going to knock out our side engines so we'll fall directly downward, through the atmosphere, and potentially crash on the planet rather than drift off somewhere else."
Icarus gave Verity a look that clearly spelled double-ewe-tee-eff.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"It's government, Icarus. They don't know the meaning of a simple plan."
Naomi dodged a blast from the opposing ship.
"Naomi, engage the ship," Verity said suddenly. Naomi glanced briefly up. "Engage? They're six times our size. That's practically the size of a transport. I only have the lowest level preinstalled weaponry on my ship."
"I want you to fire one round at them and then turn around and head back towards the planet. We have to land again or they'll kill us."
"See? Imminent death," Icarus joked, but was stifled by a withering glance from Naomi before she tapped the trigger twice with her thumb. The shots ricocheted off the laser shield surrounding the larger ship in a burst of sparks and smoke and Naomi grunted, "hold on," before dragging the stick hard to the left and hurtling back towards the blue-glowing, grapefruit-sized globe on the screens that represented Diamondus.
As Verity suspected, they were not pursued, although a few parting shots glanced off the flickering force field on the tailfins of Naomi's shuttle.
"Give it five minutes..." she guessed, leaning over the window screens.
The three rabbits were silent as Naomi guided the ship, watching the screens, and then the whole display blackened for a fraction of a second before a scrolling static bar slid down the screen, flickered, and the horizon of a planet mere miles below them became visible glowing under its gentle purple atmosphere. Icarus swore softly.
"They've cloaked the whole planet."
The cool female voice of the Intergalactic Positioning System droned on the overhead, "We are now entering the United Diamondian Planetary Systems. Preparing to enter stratospheric levels on Diamondus, intra-universal magistration code 36873912L-t. Please note that none of the Diamondian Territories nor the outlying planets in the Diamondus Union are able to support any freelance communications units at this time."
The trio ignored the voice, focusing on the planet below them. Icarus noticed Naomi's paw, shaking slightly on the controls of her ship. He reached over and covered it with his own black-furred paw.
"Hey," he said softly, "We're okay. It'll be fine."
She mustered a smile. "It just...really shakes me up that they can mess with us like that. What kind of place is this? How do we get off the planet?"
Icarus shrugged. "It's never been a problem before. I make pretty regular trips on and off and I've always made it just fine. Verity's familiar with the situation anyway. We're all in good paws." He looked over to the grey rabbit for confirmation of his statement, but Verity was gazing at the printouts on one of the screens and did not meet his eyes.
Naomi's eyes were wide, though, as the small shuttle tilted through the myriad of rainbow colored gas layers composing Diamondus's atmosphere and they landed the shuttle on a small charred landing strip in a suburban area on Diamondus's southern curve.

One of the suns had set already and the second one was lurking near the horizon as the little party disembarked from their ship, casting long shadows across the ground.
Verity knew the township vaguely; at least, she knew it was still neutral as far as the war was concerned. To her knowledge it was a good place as any to bring the two young rabbits she was with. She and Eddie had made sporadic checkpoints here while on scheduled target harvests, as they had called the routine small parties that were sent out to find potential hotspots of information that they could hack into and destroy. There was a nice tavern here if she recalled correctly.
She walked away a few strides to allow Icarus and Naomi a private conversation and climbed the crest of a hill to scope out their surroundings.
Naomi didn't want to look childish, but she was still nervous and she clung to Icarus's arm as they climbed out of the ship. "You were great flying," he told her, "the best."
Naomi clung. "I would feel better if we could talk to some kind of authorities."
Icarus sighed. "There's no authority anymore, Naom. Everyone's biased. Everyone's corrupt. Once we get away from the planet we'll be fine... and we WILL get away." He put his arms around her slender body.
"Now lets go find Verity and get something to eat." He pressed her forward towards Verity's outline perched on the hilltop beyond them.
Descending the hill into the small town, everything appeared normal, but as the three rabbits came close they could see that even this sleepy village was unable to escape the ravages of civil warfare. Near the center of the city what had once been a formidable estate lay still smoking in its own wreckage, and presently they passed a charred building that, in the quickly fading sunset, they could see had once been the local police headquarters.
Naomi slowed as they walked by this collapsed structure, observing glowing embers around the brick doorframe.
"This just happened..." she said, wavering.
"Police stations are the first to be targeted by militia or unorganizations," Verity stated briskly but softly. "It's a routine mission. It doesn't mean there's any danger here. Ravaging clans or renegade Union members will comb the land and anything they see in the form of authority that doesn't conform to their beliefs is...negated.
People-- especially civilians in a quiet town like this-- listen to authority figures," she explained, "They will go where they are told, if only in an effort to remain neutral."
She hesitated, but then pressed her paw quickly onto Naomi's shoulder in what was, however awkwardly, obviously meant to be a comforting motion. Icarus could see it was not something Verity was inclined to do naturally, but he could also tell that Naomi appreciated the protective gesture.
He knew that Naomi would become more attached to a figure like Verity's, an older, perhaps more experienced female of Naomi's own species, because of her motherless childhood.
Verity removed her paw quickly, though, and repeated, "It doesn't mean we're in danger."
Despite that, Icarus slid his arm around Naomi's shoulders as they walked on.
They entered a small tavern with a sign over the weatherbeaten door announcing it as The Marinated Pearl and quietly slunk into a corner table. Icarus and Naomi put their heads together to converse and Verity ordered a meal from a pudgy, buxom female lizard with a grubby notepad.
"-- and a Medivian Sour Ale for me," she finished. Their waitress grunted, sticking her pencil stub into a dirty pocket, and trundled back towards the kitchen.
While waiting for their food, the three bandied potential means of leaving the planet and chewed absently on the slightly wilted carrots that the waitress had plunked down on their table. Verity did not contribute often to the discussion, but, sitting across from Icarus and Naomi, only pointed out why the ship wouldn't be able to circumnavigate the planet for more than six consecutive orbits or that the cloaking device had been projected from air rather than off of the planet's surface.
"Is it even legal? Why are they doing this anyway?" Naomi wondered aloud, stretching strands of spaghetti for whole feet between her plate and fork. Verity sipped espresso and burnt her tongue and did not answer Naomi except to say, "The government doesn't want intergalactic cooperation."
Icarus frowned into his brussels sprouts.
"It was installed in the past two days," Naomi said thoughtfully, "so could we assume that they are just testing it? A synthetic orbit has to be hard to get perfect. Maybe they'll like, shut it down again."
Icarus sat up rather suddenly. "Wait," he said, "what pulls something into orbit in the first place? Isn't it some kind of magnetic force? What if we coated the ship in something that wouldn't be attractive magnetically to whatever's holding it? To keep the all the shuttles circling the planet, it has to be magnetized to a component all ships have in common."
"I think you'd have to completely negate the charge, not just block it," said Verity, but her voice was not so pessimistic. "It's a viable option...at this point probably our only option."
Naomi smiled hesitantly. "We'll be back on Carrotus before we know it!"
"Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing... you're flying to Carrotus?"
Icarus and Naomi both started in suprise at the new voice. At the end of their table, a tall, lanky white rabbit, stood with his ears cocked anxiously. His fur was grimy and he looked as though he had not slept for days, but he nodded his head courteously to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suprise you. My name's J--" he began, but the white rabbit was taken considerably more by suprise when Verity flung herself away from the table and smashed him into the floor, her blaster appearing from her leather boot and pressing its barrel into his temple.
Her knee in his throat as he wheezed for air below her, she cocked her RF and whispered at him, "I already know your name, Jonathan."
The young rabbit couldn't speak, but his eyes widened when he heard his father's name.

Chapter 22: Remittance by DoubbleDutch

It was probably just before sunrise when they found the werewolf.

Michele looked at the deformed corpse. She'd been taught enough by her father to know what one would look like of course, but she'd never seen one up close. She knelt down and examined the prone figure. There were no signs of any attack, no blood... but looking closer, under the fur, there was some sort of bruise-

*Thomp* It was as if she'd been hit from behind with a pillow shot from a cannon, a fuzzy feeling enveloped her and she collapsed. There was another thump and a yell. Looking up she saw Tier standing over a robed figure. His arm was limp and he was holding something that looked like a small rod. A crunching sound made her look at her stomach. A small circle had been neatly cut out of her shirt and her lower half was twisted at an unnatural angle. As she looked on in horror it slowly twisted around to its proper position, accompanied by sickening sensations she was sure were her internal organs shifting. Tier walked over, his arm was bruised, like the werewolves and was making small clicking noises like someone cracking their knuckles. He didn't bother checking if she was okay, or even what had happened, he just knelt down beside the werewolf and examined under the fur for- "Yeah he's bruised. I take it that rod did it to all three of us?" she said still slightly dazed. Tier looked up. "Yeah. Didn't think I'd see one of these again. Cookie cutter, the wizards used to use 'em."

The wizards? Michelle tried to remember, "Weren't they that crazy group who claim to control all magic?" Tier got up and showed her the rod. It was a perfectly smooth grey metal cylinder. "No, that was the sorcerers, but they're long gone. The wizards are a bunch of crazy wannabe's" Michelle laughed. "The sorcerers? From those old fairytales? ...you're not kidding are you?" Everyone, well, a lot of kids at least, had heard about the sourcerers, powerful people who could stop the sun setting if they wanted to. They had ruled the universe until- "The part about the prince is kind of true" interjected Tier. "But he had a few dozen planets of help, there was a lot of luck and a lot more bloodshed then the books say too." Michelle paused. He made it sound as if he'd been there, but those stories must have be centuries old "Just how old are you exactly?" she asked. Tier looked wistful "I kind've lost count, but I'm pretty sure I'll be a thousand and twenty four in a few weeks." he replied.

Michelle was stunned. An entire millennium like this? She looked at her cold dead hands and a moment of doubt passed through her mind, she crushed it. There were more important things to think about. "Well, the sooner you get introduced to this the better. Time to feed." This shocked Michelle "Feed? I though you said you needed to feed of living...?" Tier smirked "Yep, and these bodies are fresh. Not conscious, no pulse, but most of the cells are still living. It'll take a few hours for them to become inedible." Michelle waited for the shock to set in, but it didn't. Being dead seemed to dull all her emotional responses, Tier had mentioned something to do with having no adrenal glands anymore. She looked around and found what she was looking for. "If you don't mind, I'll just snack on these" she said taking a handful of Dubai berries off a small bush and popping them into her mouth. She instantly regretted it. The instant she bit down she felt sick. There was no taste, but she fell on the ground vomiting heavily bringing up the remains of an undigested breakfast two days old. A minute later she looked up a Tier's grinning face. "Like I said, living tissue, even zombies in a pinch, but say goodbye to vegetables or cooked food. If you don't think you can stomach it, here I'll take the werewolf; you can have the weirdo, just kneel down and tell me what he smells like."

Somewhat cautiously Michelle tried to discretely sniff the body. She would have been embarrassed if she'd ever bothered to be embarrassed about anything in her life. The stranger smelt like paraffin wax and mothballs. She took a deeper sniff, and then he no longer smelt of dusty attics, it smelt like life.

She awoke later. How much later was hard to tell, the sun was coming up but not yet risen. And she hadn't quite been sleeping either, images flashed across her mind, hazy and indistinct. She realized she was fervently licking something off her hand. Blood. There was no sign of the two bodies save a few small scraps of bloodied cloth. Tier was watching her reaction from a few feet away. She did a quick mental check. "Well, that was feeding was it? Okay then c'mon we've got to get to Greenthorpe ASAP." In the early morning light she could already see that the trees were thinning out and it wasn't long before the found a disused track leading to the town. Feeling somehow refreshed Michelle sprinted down the track at a speed she'd never have been able to sustain when alive. Despite the stiffness and cold she felt stronger and more in control than ever before in her life. And more determined.

She removed the 'wand' she'd picked up off the wizard and showed Tier. "You said this was a 'cookie cutter' how does it work?" It felt odd to be talking normally while running at top speed; lack of breathing was certainly an advantage. "Tier grabbed the rod and pointed it at her. This end is the one you hold; it shoots real small particles of silver that spin around real fast, near light speed. It instantly kills werewolves and most other things. Anything else, the silver bits hit the body and almost go through, when the slow down enough they explode, sending out a sonic and magical shockwave that liquidizes a portion of a body, makes it look like a bruise. When it hits skin it makes a thin red line that looks like someone took a cookie cutter to your skin. That’s what took a bite out of the back of your shirt. Michelle looked over her shoulder; sure enough there was a large circular hole in it, just below her shoulders, directly opposite the smaller hole in the front. She snatched the wand of Tier and pocketed it. The vampire would get acquainted with it soon enough.

They encountered the traveler just outside the town, on a road the track had joined half an hour earlier. He was a young red rabbit who by the looks of things was walking to the next town, or maybe to see family. Wasting no time Michelle simply ran up to him, picked him up by the shirt and asked him where Greenthorpe Mansion was. Terrified and confused he nevertheless managed to stutter a reply. "The vampire house? Wh-why do you want to go there? It’s easy to find, just off Old Main street, real old run down big building!" Walking calmly over Tier put a hand on the young rabbits shoulder. "So sorry about my friend here, family troubles you see. Do put him down won't you? Good. Now sir, I suggest you continue what you were doing, as I have no doubt you will, it’s just that less logical people might do something unproductive like sneak back to town and say two zombies or something were heading in. That could cause a lot of unnecessary panic, and in such situations it wouldn't be surprising if that person or their friends and family found themselves at a disadvantage. Proceed."

Tier smirked as the figure ran into the distance, almost he realized, as fast as Michelle was speeding in the opposite direction. Nevertheless it was midmorning by the time the approached the mansion, which was every bit as decrepit as Tier had expected. After you'd hidden out in a few abandoned building they all started to look the same. Michelle didn't seem to want to take in the view; she simply vaulted the fence and ran inside. There were several people outside, one of whom yelled something at Tier. From inside the mansion there was the sound of breaking glass and more yelling. For a second Tier considered just walking away and leaving, it wouldn't be that hard, lord knows he'd screwed things up enough already. But then, what had he got lose? Attempting to sigh melodramatically Tier walked slowly up the footpath and into the mansions front door.

Chapter 23: Dealing with dead by ToxicBunny.

There was a knocking at the back door. Tom opened it to reveal a rain-sodden Louie with a body hoisted over his shoulder.
"What on Carrotus... who is that?"
"Some kind of undead hunter, judging by the equipment he was carrying."
"But..." Tom was lost for words.
"Look, can I come in? It's pouring out here."
"Come on. You'd better take him up to my room." Tom stood back as Louie entered. He barely avoided hitting his burden's head off the top of the door frame. He carried Alexander Garand upstairs and laid him out on Tom and Susan's bed.
"Why did you bring him here?"
"I couldn't leave him out there. The werewolves that were after him never leave the woods, but other things do."
"Werewolves?"
"Yes, there were a pack of them after him."
That's not what Tom had meant. It was only a few days ago that he'd been forced to accept the existence of vampires. Now he had werewolves to deal with.

Tom stuck his head through the hatchway in the attic floor. "That's the video done. I even got Louie to hold up today's newspaper to prove it was made today."
Susan had just finished putting a bed sheet over an old, worn mattress. With Garand in their room, Majo in the spare room, and Tony on the sofa, they had no choice but to sleep in the attic. Louie slept on the bare floor. They'd offered him the mattress, but he'd insisted their need was greater than his.
"Thomas," said Susan.
"What's wrong, dear?" he replied. She hardly ever called him Thomas.
"What's about to happen." She paused. Tom gave her an inquisitive look. "It's exactly why we left Earian."
"That was different."
"Different?" Her voice rose slightly as she continued, "of course it was different. There were no refugees, after all."
"There must have been some refugees. Remember that business with the Autonomous Lizard's Republic?"
"That doesn't count," replied Susan, again a little louder. "That didn't make any real refugees."
"As I recall, the hotel manager got his arm broken," said Tom, a little apprehensively.
"Can we forget about the hotel for a second?" snapped Susan.
"Sorry. Tell you what, as soon as we get the mansion sorted out, we'll take a holiday. We could go to Thernon to see your brother perform. He's wanted you to visit him ever since he got into the Royal Opera's orchestra."
"That's just it. I can't leave. You think with hundreds of refugees arriving, they're going to let a surgeon take a holiday? And even if they did, you think I'd leave?"

"Thank you, dear," said Hilda, stiffly. Hilda took a sip of the tea she had just been handed.
"My pleasure, grandmother," replied Gary. He closed his briefcase. "I can't thank you enough."
"Nonsense. Anything to see the family name back in charge of Peddleburg. Every penny of that must go to your campaign, mind. I expect to see receipts. Now zip up the mattress, there's a good boy." Parker obeyed, making sure none of the banknotes fell out onto the floor. He would never understand why his grandmother flatly refused to open a bank account. Just as well, though. He'd be back for the rest some other time. Hilda looked over her visitor. A self-centred, devious little brat. But he'd make a good governor. And who knows, maybe he'd stop asking her for money. He had no excuse for it, not with his inheritance. She took another large sip. This was very invigorating tea. Her heart hadn't been this active in years.
"There we go. Now I'm afraid I'll have to leave you, grandmother dear."
"Oh, what a pity," she lied. "Goodbye. Don't forget to call again soon."
"I won't. I'm sure I'll see you again very soon. Goodbye."
"Goodbye," said Hilda as he closed the door behind him. Her heart was positively racing now. Out in the hall, Gary met Hilda's maid.
"Poor girl," he thought, "she'll be out of a job soon. I simply must offer her an interview."
He wished her a good day and left.

"He's waking up!" called Majo. She was sitting by Alexander's bedside. Alexander cursed inwardly. He would have liked to have assessed his surroundings before anyone realized he was awake. Not only that, but his face felt like it had been hit by a train. He opened his eyes. It was immediately obvious that he hadn't been taken back to the Greenthorpe mansion.
"Where am I?"
"The Bradhurst residence, Greenthorpe," replied Majo. Tom and Susan entered the room.
"Who are you?" he asked. As they introduced themselves, Louie arrived.
"What do you want with me?" asked Alexander.
"We want to know why you were hunting Mr. Greenthorpe, here," said Susan. He considered this. He didn't know why they had no problem with the vampire. They were clearly in on the Masquerade, and they must have realized he was with Schism or a similar organization.
"An incident a few days ago. A squad of marines and a TV crew were slaughtered by the present occupier of Mr. Greenthorpe's home. Which I am assuming is Mr. Greenthorpe."
"I moved out several days ago," said Louie. "The guy who killed those people is someone else. But you needn't worry about him."
"Oh?" "He had a nasty accident involving a piano. Lost his head, you see."
"Ah. Would this 'accident' have involved you in any way?"
"It had, but the embrace was not done by me, which is something I cannot wrap my head around.”
"Luckily for you, you can take the Masquerade Law into your own hands. After all, Schism can't police the entire planet."
"Schism? You are with Schism? I’m a little surprised; your handwork is rusty, old man.” Louie did not mean to sound impolite.
"Schism. A very unofficial Carrotus government department that preserves the Masquerade," said Tom, recalling his studies and re-affirming everything that was going on for himself.
"Yes," said Alexander.
"So good at what it does, I didn't even believe it existed until now."
"What is this 'Masquerade'?" asked Majo. Alexander swore under his breath. They weren't all in on the Masquerade after all. Well, they were now.
"It's what keeps the world ignorant to the presence of things like vampires and werewolves," replied Tom.
"And whatever moral quibbles you may have about it, it's vital that people stay ignorant," said Alexander. "You're all going to have to take the Oath of Secrecy. And then I'd like to confirm the elimination of the guy who brought me out here."