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Wherefore Art Thou, Mercurio?
Jan. 21st, 2010 12:00 pmAt your convenience, please come and visit me in my home downtown. I leave you this to guide you.
Dark blood, our curse, alight this verse
Such power I sense in one so young
Come find me where burns the mystical sun.
- M. Strauss, Tremere Regent.
The note was a puzzle best solved later: it was a new night and she needed to seek out The Prince's agent, Mercurio: getting dressed again in the (mercifully dry) only clothes she had, the Fledgling took stock of her meager possessions.
Clothes.
A hundred dollars in cash, left by "Mercurio".
A wristwatch.
A lockpick.
A monogrammed card, bearing the strange invitation from the Regent.
Oh, of course there were the laptop computer, the boom-box, the TV, but none of those were exactly hers, and much less easy to carry around right now: with a shake of head, she opened the door and headed out into the hallway.
The L.A. Sun lay at the door of apartment 505, bearing news she saw through the haze of the Madness: "Carnival of Death - Gruesome remains found at the pier - Police baffled". The picture was rather explicit, showing a male body, hanging from a rope tied at the wrists and to a lamp post. The body seemed to have been partially skinned, gutted, and was missing parts.
Gruesome indeed, but hardly of her business right now.
She moved down the stairs, and opened the door into the alley.
"H-hey lady? You g-got some c-change l-lady?" The voice, stuttered and slurred from alcohol came from a bum wearing an old dirty coat, swaying on his feet.
Her human side and her predator side did a little conference. "You can not quench your thirst here in the dark. Hm, I wonder..." The vampire took the chance to step closer to the puzzled, drunken homeless man. "...I wonder who could."
In a flash of movement, she buried her fangs on his neck, and drank deeply. The man groaned, overtaken by the pleasure of the Kiss, stumbling back against the wall while the vampire took what she needed. His blood was bland, tainted with alcohol, but quenched her thirst.
Before he grew too weak, the Fledgling drew back, and by reflex, licked the stray drops oozing from the wounds, watching with fascination as they closed and disappeared, leaving only a slight bruise.
Interesting. Useful. Letting the man slide down the wall of the ally to a seating position, she turned and moved to the street, just in time to see a dark sedan drive past, swerving wildly, and park in front of a building a half block ahead. When the door opened and the driver stumbled out, the wind carried to her the coppery scent of blood, and the sharp aroma of pain and fear.
The Voices told her The Prince's assignment had just turned more complicated.
Moving up the street, the vampire pushed the car's door closed, taking note of the reddish, drying smears inside: like she suspected, the building was number 24, Mercurio's place. The door was unlocked and a trail of blood droplets marked the path to Apartment #4, again, Mercurio's. That door was also unlocked, and on the living room man in a blue suit had collapsed on the couch, battered and bloodied.
As she approached, he muttered in a gasped, feeble voice. "Those mothers... ripped me off. I'm dying here."
"Are you the fleet-footed god?" Immersed in the Madness, the vampire focused more on ignoring the sweet scent of blood than in being friendly.
"Unnghh..." The man propped himself up some, focusing his unbruised eye. "Mercurio, if that's what you mean. Ah, shit... you are a Malkavian, aren't you? That's the last thing I need, I am bleeding all over the carpet and have to try to understand what you mean."
"You need only open your eyes. Now tell me your tale."
"I got... I went... oh God, what is this lump? A rib? A rib is poking out of my side?" The man's voice was filling with panic. "Oh you gotta look and tell me."
"Hippocrates is not my forefather." The vampire shook her head. "Who broke you, Mercury?"
Frowning, he complied. "Goddamn chemist. Can't trust anyone in L.A., the guy seemed legit. He mixes up speed, his crew sells it: he does explosives once in a while. I set up a drop. Those cocksuckers beat me up, left me for a stiff. I had to crawl into my car, then crawl in here. The vamp's blood is the only thing holding me together, but they got my money, and they got the Astrolite."
That part near the end made the Fledgling's curiosity spark. "Of what Blood you speak?"
"Right." He shook head in disbelief and regretted it instantly, judging from the wince of pain. "You are right off the bus... once a month I get fed vampire blood, makes me stronger, I heal faster and I don't age. Looking at me you could never tell, but I'm almost sixty."
Indeed, Mercurio seemed to be in his 20's, late; but even if interesting, that information was not the pressing issue. "Where do I get the boom-boom?"
"Those small-time sons of bitches live in a dump by the pier. The one who got the explosives is Dennis. Got my money too, the prick."
She nodded at the information. "How do I get my boom-boom?"
Mercurio half-shrugged, trying to not sound defeated. "You gotta... you gotta get it back from them. Maybe get my money too. Reason with them, blow them up, do whatever you people can do."
Now that made her smile. "The fleet-footed god was not so fleet, so I must be in his stead. My assistance may help you greatly?"
"Uuugh... yeah, if you could... Something just started leaking... uh, I need something for the pain."
She nodded once more. "I will return with some numbness, Mercury."
The man reached for her with an expression of worry. "Oh, hold on, one more thing, about the deal... I mean this, you tell anyone what happened, I'm a dead man. Keep it quiet and I can set you up, I know people who can get you anything you need."
"Your words will be weighed, Mercury. Farewell." Turning around, the Fledgling made her way back to the street.
Dark blood, our curse, alight this verse
Such power I sense in one so young
Come find me where burns the mystical sun.
- M. Strauss, Tremere Regent.
The note was a puzzle best solved later: it was a new night and she needed to seek out The Prince's agent, Mercurio: getting dressed again in the (mercifully dry) only clothes she had, the Fledgling took stock of her meager possessions.
Clothes.
A hundred dollars in cash, left by "Mercurio".
A wristwatch.
A lockpick.
A monogrammed card, bearing the strange invitation from the Regent.
Oh, of course there were the laptop computer, the boom-box, the TV, but none of those were exactly hers, and much less easy to carry around right now: with a shake of head, she opened the door and headed out into the hallway.
The L.A. Sun lay at the door of apartment 505, bearing news she saw through the haze of the Madness: "Carnival of Death - Gruesome remains found at the pier - Police baffled". The picture was rather explicit, showing a male body, hanging from a rope tied at the wrists and to a lamp post. The body seemed to have been partially skinned, gutted, and was missing parts.
Gruesome indeed, but hardly of her business right now.
She moved down the stairs, and opened the door into the alley.
"H-hey lady? You g-got some c-change l-lady?" The voice, stuttered and slurred from alcohol came from a bum wearing an old dirty coat, swaying on his feet.
Her human side and her predator side did a little conference. "You can not quench your thirst here in the dark. Hm, I wonder..." The vampire took the chance to step closer to the puzzled, drunken homeless man. "...I wonder who could."
In a flash of movement, she buried her fangs on his neck, and drank deeply. The man groaned, overtaken by the pleasure of the Kiss, stumbling back against the wall while the vampire took what she needed. His blood was bland, tainted with alcohol, but quenched her thirst.
Before he grew too weak, the Fledgling drew back, and by reflex, licked the stray drops oozing from the wounds, watching with fascination as they closed and disappeared, leaving only a slight bruise.
Interesting. Useful. Letting the man slide down the wall of the ally to a seating position, she turned and moved to the street, just in time to see a dark sedan drive past, swerving wildly, and park in front of a building a half block ahead. When the door opened and the driver stumbled out, the wind carried to her the coppery scent of blood, and the sharp aroma of pain and fear.
The Voices told her The Prince's assignment had just turned more complicated.
Moving up the street, the vampire pushed the car's door closed, taking note of the reddish, drying smears inside: like she suspected, the building was number 24, Mercurio's place. The door was unlocked and a trail of blood droplets marked the path to Apartment #4, again, Mercurio's. That door was also unlocked, and on the living room man in a blue suit had collapsed on the couch, battered and bloodied.
As she approached, he muttered in a gasped, feeble voice. "Those mothers... ripped me off. I'm dying here."
"Are you the fleet-footed god?" Immersed in the Madness, the vampire focused more on ignoring the sweet scent of blood than in being friendly.
"Unnghh..." The man propped himself up some, focusing his unbruised eye. "Mercurio, if that's what you mean. Ah, shit... you are a Malkavian, aren't you? That's the last thing I need, I am bleeding all over the carpet and have to try to understand what you mean."
"You need only open your eyes. Now tell me your tale."
"I got... I went... oh God, what is this lump? A rib? A rib is poking out of my side?" The man's voice was filling with panic. "Oh you gotta look and tell me."
"Hippocrates is not my forefather." The vampire shook her head. "Who broke you, Mercury?"
Frowning, he complied. "Goddamn chemist. Can't trust anyone in L.A., the guy seemed legit. He mixes up speed, his crew sells it: he does explosives once in a while. I set up a drop. Those cocksuckers beat me up, left me for a stiff. I had to crawl into my car, then crawl in here. The vamp's blood is the only thing holding me together, but they got my money, and they got the Astrolite."
That part near the end made the Fledgling's curiosity spark. "Of what Blood you speak?"
"Right." He shook head in disbelief and regretted it instantly, judging from the wince of pain. "You are right off the bus... once a month I get fed vampire blood, makes me stronger, I heal faster and I don't age. Looking at me you could never tell, but I'm almost sixty."
Indeed, Mercurio seemed to be in his 20's, late; but even if interesting, that information was not the pressing issue. "Where do I get the boom-boom?"
"Those small-time sons of bitches live in a dump by the pier. The one who got the explosives is Dennis. Got my money too, the prick."
She nodded at the information. "How do I get my boom-boom?"
Mercurio half-shrugged, trying to not sound defeated. "You gotta... you gotta get it back from them. Maybe get my money too. Reason with them, blow them up, do whatever you people can do."
Now that made her smile. "The fleet-footed god was not so fleet, so I must be in his stead. My assistance may help you greatly?"
"Uuugh... yeah, if you could... Something just started leaking... uh, I need something for the pain."
She nodded once more. "I will return with some numbness, Mercury."
The man reached for her with an expression of worry. "Oh, hold on, one more thing, about the deal... I mean this, you tell anyone what happened, I'm a dead man. Keep it quiet and I can set you up, I know people who can get you anything you need."
"Your words will be weighed, Mercury. Farewell." Turning around, the Fledgling made her way back to the street.
