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 Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 2:00 pm
Barth had exhausted both resources and abilities trying to find where Zar had disappeared to. It didn't help that speed was not his forte, although he had been both extremely furious and therefore as expedient as he was capable.
Barth had used Zar's Name, of course. Near the beginning. But Zar had not answered the summons. And he had not heard the prickle of his own name.
He had spoken to Zar, occasionally, in dreams. Zar had been distant, drugged. Barely himself, like the backwards imprint of an newspaper, half-remembered words and faded impressions. He knew he was alive, otherwise the Mark would have disappeared. Barth had told him to wait. That he was coming. That he was doing everything he could...
And 2 months later, with names and locations struck from the realms of possibility, Barth had another place (and name) to check. Zar himself had few enemies, but as a family...and each avenue was an inquiry into hostile and dangerous territory. It had been a late-night business, full of shadows and spies and hats and favors, and within all that a black cord of threatening fury. It was not that Barth was the murderous sort, usually, but if certain parties happened to wander near a patch of earth that would dissipate them permanently, Barth might encourage them to step rightward.
Grimhold affixed Barth's cloak. He had informed Grimhold about today's inquiry, and while they should be prepared for anything, Barth was not optimistic about the results one way or another. They would, essentially, be breaking and entering. Which he'd done a lot of. Or rather, Grimhold had. Grimhold was very good about the slipping into houses thing, as long as it was past dusk. Barth had avoided drawing any racial conclusions from it.
For these kinds of excursions (and not just the scouting sort) Calder usually came along. In case. And also because he was very slow and not much in the muscle department. And while he had talked them out a few tight spots, if they actually found Zar, he doubted talking would do much good.
"Alright," He told Sup and Tula, "We'll be back before morning." There was, as always, an address with their location for GIlda and Rasputher, not that he expected them to do anything about it except capitalize on the opportunity to raise their heir without any distractions.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 5:26 pm
Calder wasn't patient by nature, and found himself mixed between pacing, being anxious whenever they had another lead, or staying at home clinging close to their scarlings and Barth, spending too much time thinking of the What Ifs and Zar.
Between them, they had managed to find small bits and pieces, with Barth using his demon tact and silver tongue to get what he needed from a conversation most times. When a more DIRECT approach was needed, Calder was always there beside him, either at a distance to maintain a air of professionalism for Barth and to serve as threatening muscle. He even adopted a saddle and reigns in order to give Barth a more regal sense of demonic wealth, of someone with power, whenever he needed to show it. It served a demon a better purpose if he came in riding a dark kelpie than just wandering from the streets.
Whenver Calder heard a conversation here or there in the shadows or some side conversation to whomever Barth was talking with, he switched his own abilities into play and tried to help in whatever task or request Barth had no matter how small. There was no room for pride to step in when Zar was out there, not that Barth wasn't courteous to him.
At that night, he felt a particular buzz that always came with yet another lead, and he hoped this time it wasn't a fruitless dead end that would leave them backtracking to a previous source yet again. Kneeling down, he kissed both Tula and Sup, before giving them a reassuring nuzzle. "Be good for Gilda and Rasputher. Watch over the house for us until we get back, okay?"
Rising, he tied up his hair and turned to Barth. "Let's go."
Right at the entrance to the door, Calder shifted into the white mare once more and laid down, waiting for Barth to take a seat before heading out.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 6:52 am
Barth put a claw gently on Calder's shoulder. "We're taking the carriage, this go round." For scouting and general nosing about, the carriage could be conspicuous, but for going a little further than that they needed the vampire's services. It would be easier if Grimhold could turn into a cloud of bats, but in all the years that they'd been acquainted Barth hadn't seen so much as a single fluttery wing.
Grimhold slipped out the door. The Carriage was already crouching in the castle entrance.
Calder was eager to go. Barth felt, as he had the past few months, irritable and on edge. He had been exercising a great deal of restraint to remain calm, and not snap at the scarelings (or the help). Which was mostly Gilda's. He had been looking at doing some new hirings when Zar had disappeared, and the whole process had ground to a halt. The last thing Zar would want to come back to was changes.
And he was coming back.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:20 am
Ears back, she regarded the carriage but stood up and changed back. Standing, he turned to escort Barth to the carriage with a "fine" at the transportation plans. He was t about to debate it, as he left the tactics and planning to Barth. Thinkin about it, it probably would be best for Zar if he had a carriage ride and they weren't sure how much energy they would expend this trip - not that Calder wasn't in short supply. He had forgotten how pent up he felt without an outlet and Zar had been so kind to provide him one. He missed his company terribly.
"Evening, Geimhold." Calder said to the man as he climbed into the carriage and sat down.
"Do we have an idea of what we are facing at this place?" Demons of any sort seemed to always have powerful servants, be it with Dr. Fell or Gilda.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:43 am
"Good evening, Master Calder," Grimhold said smartly, closing the door behind them and vaulting up to the box seat.
"Well, it's a...um, abandoned building. No security that I could tell. Fellow that has had some disagreements with Gilda in the past has been visiting it, occasionally. It's not an armed keep, or anything. We should have an alright go of things. We'll pop in and take a look around, just to," yawn, "be sure."
Barth was already beginning to doze. He wasn't much for late night excursions. Or early excursions. Or excursioning in general. But he was short on Favors and there was a very long list of enemies that needed checking up on. He slumped over against Calder.
"Shouldn't take long," he mumbled.
The ride across town itself was uneventful, the night quiet. They parked a little distance away, to not arouse suspicion, but for Barth it might as well have been miles. He stepped out of the coach wearily.
The warehouse loomed, boarded up with rusted metal doors and graffitied wood. Junk littered the yard. Barth's suit and polished boots looked distinctly out of place.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 7:16 pm
Calder stayed in the cabin, softly stroking Barth's hair to give him something to help calm his nerves. He thought nervously of what another dead end might mean, and also the worries if they did find something. He worried who they might cross, and who they might fight. Zar was missing, and if Barth went missing too - he wasn't half as skilled at talking people out of information as Barth was and he didn't know how else he would even start to find them if something happened.
He wanted Zar back, and each moment he was left cycling in a world of cruel imagination wondering what was happening and feeling the twisting guilt that it had been this long. That he had been away without them this long.
The carriage shook to a halt and Calder stepped out, helping Barth out of the cabin. "Do you need me to help you over or - what kinda discrete way do you want to do this?" He looked over to the ramshackle home and thought it was at least upright and standing. It meant good territory to him.
"I'm guessing me rushing in would be a No here." Kelpies were not the sneaking sort. They stood out to attract attention, and unless he could go in and seduce someone, he wasn't sure how to go about entering.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 11:33 am
Vinnie was on his own. He'd been left to guard their captive as usual while Rah went off to do whatever he did in the various taverns and places throughout the town. He wouldn't be back until much much later. He wasn't too upset, the demon was a constant barrage of abuse and anger when he was around, while he was gone it was quieter.
Zar hadn't moved in a long time he was still alive because he was still solid enough to see but that was as far as it went. He only seemed to move when Rah was determined to make him.
He left the room those times, trying not to think too hard about who it was who was hung up there.
The warehouse up top was full of empty crates at the moment, most of the contraband elsewhere at present. The shutters were solid and the doors even moreso, garbage blew around and gathered in puddles and the whole place all but radiated delapidation. Nowhere seemed particularly friendly to gain entry.
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 5:51 pm
"If you could," Barth said, leaning rather heavily on Calder. Otherwise this was all going to turn into a very gradual promenade. Not that Barth liked rushing things, but even he had to admit timing was of the essence.
While Zar was still alive.
Grimhold whispered something to the smoothed mahogany of the carriage, knotting the leather reigns that attached to nothing and leaving it in the dark.
"Grimhold, I'd like to go into the Warehouse, if you would." Grimhold placed long fingernails over his chest, eyes gleaming from the depths of his high collar and wide-brimmed hat. Under his glove there was a soft glow. This was why Grimhold had been breaking them into places with keen regularity and efficiency. It was still technically related to Barth's original Deal with the vampire, which was that Grimhold would provide him transportation. And here to inside there was as transporting as any other destination.
Grimhold snaked through the shadows, kneeling at a particularly dark door. He took out a toolkit, ears trained very attentively to the light clicking, and what was beyond that.
"Two creeple inside," he filled in softly as he worked and as Calder and Barth arrived behind him. Grimhold's pupils were narrow slits. "One's breathing is irregular."
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 6:34 pm
Calder slipped around Barth, picking him up and moving as softly as a pair of hooves could, which wasn't so unusual given that hooves on cobblestone were normal. He tried to walk on the dead earth in order to muffle any sounds he made on the stone and moved behind Grimhold as he worked on the door. Once there, he set Barth down a moment and knelt down too, ears perked up as he tried to pick up anything and smelling the air.
"Something smells....strong. Not like I smelled before." He said, not sure of what it was. There was a rich musk to it, deep, and not like that of any cologne or perfume but something that made him wary. But among that more pungent smell, he narrowed his eyes and looked over to Grimhold.
"Do...you smell him too?" He whispered to Grimhold before looking to Barth. "Do we creep in or rush in? If we rush in, I need you to ride Piggyback so I don't loose you. I'll try and follow the smell."
The thought of irregular breathing made his heart race. Could they actually be here after long last?
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 6:40 pm
"Blood," Grimhold answered, fangs peeking outside his lips. "Quite a lot of blood." It was this smell more than anything else he was attuned to. He could number the hearts, but did not. He wiped his lips discreetly.
There was a final click.
The door cracked open.
Grimhold stood, on edge, hovering near the threshhold but not crossing it, as if bound back by an invisible force.
"Wait in the carriage," Barth said quietly, although he thought if there was blood they might have prepared for this particular entry a bit more, "We'll call if we need you."
Barth eased inside.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 5:52 am
Inside the warehouse things were dark and very dusty, the whole place clearly used as a location to store contraband and to cover up what goods were coming through. There were drag marks in the dust that lay thick across the floor. Traversing this floor however led to a set of stairs to a basement which seemed to be where the strong smell of blood was coming from.
There were large bloody pawprints on the wooden steps and an odd dried and slimy residue. Someone had a light down there, a lantern flickering and casting its light in a way that was visible from upstairs.
Down in the basement one entire wall was dedicated to the means of keeping Zar captive, the demon in his humanoid form, pinned whether he liked it or not and in a frankly horrific state with his restraints bolted between flesh and bone and deep gouges all across his body, he wasn't moving and didn't register any of the sounds elsewhere. Around where he was sealed, the floor and walls were jet slick black from blood, both dried and new. The most marked difference was that rather than his usual wings in their place he had tentacles also restrained in equally gruesome fashion.
Vinnie, on hearing the sound of the door opening upstairs, used to the way the breeze flickered the candles, called out hesitantly. "I... I did the books!"
He hadn't, he'd been supposed to be changing the figures in the shipment books but he'd gotten distracted reading junk literature instead. "I... er.. I'll...I'll get them to you later.?? I thought you'd be gone longer."
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 12:42 pm
Ears back, he knelt down and moved Barth to his back, letting him go piggy back as he stood back up. "Thanks, Grimhold." Calder whispered before walking into the building. The place wasn't in any better shape on the inside and if it wasn't for the thick smell of unfamiliar creatures and blood, the dust might have overwhelmed his senses. The blood nagged at his senses, calling to deeper parts of him, but the other side could only worry. But it was a smell he knew and made his heart race faster and faster still.
Moving quickly down the hallway, he paused at the steps and saw the flickering light before looking at the slime. A quick glance over his shoulder to Barth and Calder started walking down the steps, pausing only slightly when a voice called back up. It wasn't Zar, but with all signs leading that he was here, he didn't care who the Jack it was. They had him and he wanted them dead.
In the basement, he was aghast to see Zar in a state even his vivid imagination hadn't concocted and he glared daggers back at the man there. "You took Zar." He growled, lowering himself down to let Barth off as he rose back up. He moved to keep himself between Zar and the man. While he wanted to pry Zar off quickly, there was at least this man now to deal with.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 2:07 pm
After transversing the stairs, Barth slid off Calder to stand on his feet again. He kept a claw on Calder's shoulder.
The voice below had managed less than the mention of blood.
And there he was. After what had been too many days. Strung out against a wall and half-shifted between forms, not shackled but pinned, and there was blood, on him, on the floor, on the walls. His chest was still moving, shallow, and he looked like he had been on the very edge of dissipating for a long time.
"Zar?" Barth called, barely registering the other demon in the room.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 2:18 pm
Vinnie's immediate reaction to the realisation that it wasn't Rah coming down to the basement was one of very immediate panic. Anyone coming down here had to have come to collect Zar and that meant they probably wouldn't be too happy about the state of affairs. He'd heard about Gilda and Ras from the wrath demon, and that alone had been terrifying, these two intruders were unknown to him, not fitting the description of the family's matriarch and patriarch but they looked intimidating anyway.
"No no no!" he squeaked, holding up hands that were barely hands at all, the pen he was holding stuck to the slime under the pad. He shook it off in case it was perceived as a threat. No no I didn't do anything! I'm practically a captive too! I just watch him I don't have a choice!"
He tried to look as inoffensive as possible at Calder, something he was fairly good at as he was a little on the pudgy side and looked about as threatening as a very brightly coloured snail in a suit could look. He tucked in his eye-stalks.
"Please don't hurt me. I'm Vinnie. I don't have any hard feelings against you guys. It's all Rah."
Zar didn't move at the voice, having heard both Barth and Calder numerous times in his dreams, barely registering the world outside his own head at this point, withdrawn from the pain and constant hurt in all of his body. Drawn on the floor and on the wall behind him was a seal, presumably part of what was keeping him there and keeping him as still as he was.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 2:31 pm
Calder didn't much have a tender spit at the moment seeing the state Zar was in and turned to Barth. Bonnie wasn't showing himself as a current threat so he went to his main worry. Getting Zar out of the hell he was in.
"Barth, will pulling those spikes dissipate him or can I pull them off? And what about that?" He pointed to the clearly magic thing all around.
Turning, he reached over and grabbed Vinnie by the hem of his jacket collar. "There isn't any traps that will hurt Zar if we touch him? If we take him down? And who the hell is Rah while you're at it. I want to know what is going to be coming down those steps."
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