We were currently at Mama Louise’s, a high-end brothel at the edge of Whitechapel. Lining its walls were regal lamps and fine purple and red colours. Each room that we passed by on our way in was fitted with a hot bath, bed, and various amenities. Though, where we stopped was the private lounge in the back. It featured a fully stocked bar, several couches, and a sinister but noble villain aesthetic. Mama Louise, the owner, was an older-looking woman whose body was quite robust. She wore a purple gown, and was smoking a long thin pipe as we sat across from her on one of the red couches. The smoke from her pipe matched the colour of her long white hair that was poorly put up. Even if I was into older women, she wouldn’t have really appealed to me. I had thought that Succubi could seduce anyone… Guess not.

“State your business, Scott. You and I both know you don’t have all day,” Mama Louise finally said to break the silence, letting out a dramatically long fume of smoke from her mouth upon finishing.

“Mama Louise, we would like to ask you about the rumors of a Succubi that has been attacking people lately. Are they true, and if so, where can we find this Succubus?” Scott asked with more respect than I had ever seen him show anyone up till now. It almost seemed like he was afraid.

“Is that what I was woken up for? The Table is becoming rather rude; and yes, I know who you are referring to,” Mama Louise asked back and responded, obviously annoyed.

“That is great. Then, if we could know who it is and where to possibly find her, we could detain and return her—” Scott said before Mama Louise raised her hand as if to tell him to shut his mouth.

“I want you to kill her,” Mama Louise stated without a hint of mercy on her tongue.

“May I ask why? I thought the Succubi protect their own?” Scott asked with a confused look.

“We do protect our own, but she is a traitor. She has killed one of my clients and that is considered punishable by death among us Succubi. It has worked out perfectly that you would arrive before I could kill her myself,” Mama Louise replied with a partially threatening gleam in her eyes.

“Mama Louise, we are here to stop her from attacking humans but we cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in the affairs of the Succubi. She will be captured and brought to you so that you may deal with her. Only if she attacks us will we kill her,” Scott stated slowly, as he seemed to be trying to not say anything incorrectly or that could be taken in the wrong light.

“That is understandable, considering the pact we Succubi made with the Table... So be it. She was last seen hiding within the Chapel here in Whitechapel. I will await your return with her, dead or alive,” she said, waving us off with faint annoyance. I could only watch. I knew nothing of what was going on. That woman knew this, and acted like she didn’t even notice me. To match, Scott also ignored me and spoke to her like he was at a peace meeting that could go sour at any moment. From the way she acted, it felt like I was definitely sitting in front of a mafia boss who wasn’t pleased with our visit. I was right to assume. Once we were outside Mama Louise’s, Scott released a heavy sigh before reaching into his coat pocket, grabbing his flask, and chugging half of the contents.

“Ugh, I was too sober for that. I swear she was staring daggers into me the whole time. Glad I talked to her when she was in relatively good spirits,” he said with a deep gasp after taking that all in.

“Is she that scary? She just seemed annoyed that we were bothering her...” I asked as she just seemed to be playing with him.

“Kid, if you ever get on that woman’s nerves, there is no place on earth that she couldn’t find you; and once she finds you, you will be tortured and killed,” he said with the straightest of faces. I was now terrified, and could see why he acted the way he did in there.

We strode through the streets of Whitechapel with an aura that seemed to attract a lot of attention from my point of view. Scott, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care. It was as if there was nothing that could bother him. At least, I would think that if he hadn’t shown that he was terrified of Mama Louise. The people around us would stare as if we were circus performers that had gone out for a drink while still in costume.

“Why are they staring at us?” I asked Scott.

“Well Lou, I am wearing much nicer clothes than they are, and reek of alcohol, so many of them assume that I would be perfect to rob. They don’t care much about you. They probably think I paid you chump change to be my bodyguard or you’re a beggar, hoping that I will give you something,” Scott explained as if he was looking down on them. However, that was not his intention by any means. He just naturally seemed like a dick, from what I could tell. Though I was aghast... Did people really think I was dressed like a beggar? I thought it looked cool, although many people in the 20th century would call me an edgelord.

“Do you really think I dress like a beggar?” I asked with a tone of uncertainty.

“You do. And you have no money anyway, so you would be a beggar had I not taken you in,” Scott stated honestly whilst eyeing the headlines of today's newspaper being handed out by a young boy on the street corner.

“You have me there,” I reluctantly replied.

“Anyways, we’re here,” he said as we arrived at the chapel. It wasn’t that far from Mama Louise’s at all. Scott hopped up the stone steps and began knocking on the door. It echoed a bit inside, before we heard footsteps moving quickly from behind the door. A moment later, the door opened just enough for the Priest to peek his head out. It was the same old man who had refused to house me. He looked at Scott and I swear I heard him say “oh shit” before pulling his head back in and attempting to shut the door. Scott reached in before he could, and opened up the door completely.

“M—Mr. Langston! You surprised me. What brings you to Whitechapel?” The Priest asked, but as he spoke, he seemed out of breath.

“We are on the hunt for a succubus who is suspected of being at your chapel, Father,” Scott said as an interrogator would. With every word, Scott inched in closer to the Priest, making him quite uncomfortable.

“There couldn’t be any creatures that you hunt here, these grounds are consecrated,” he replied with an awkward smile. No matter how you looked at it, the Priest looked like he was trying to hide something.

“I think these grounds need to be reconsecrated, because if it was, then this vampire charm would be red hot,” he said, pulling a small medallion out of his pocket.

“I see, I will have that done, but please leave. I am busy,” the Priest stammered as he tried to hurry us out.

“Lou, search the chapel,” Scott said to me sternly, as he looked around. I wasn’t sure what I was searching for, but I started to amble toward the end of the chapel.

“You cannot do that, this—” the Priest tried to make a rebuttal, but was hastily interrupted.

“We can do anything in our jurisdiction so long as it is to keep the peace, and you fall within mine. The Church of England has agreed to let us handle supernatural problems in or around Churches as we see fit,” Scott said with a glare that could stop a bear in its tracks. The Bishop shut his mouth and didn’t say any more, despite looking like he wanted to cuss Scott out.

Approaching the back left end of the Chapel, I found a door that was ajar. As I stepped towards the door to open it, there was a crash from the other side. It was loud enough that Scott came running towards it. Charging through the door into a long hallway spanning the side of the chapel, I saw a red haired woman around her mid-twenties, dressed in 19th-century lingerie bolting towards a door at the end of the long hallway. Running back there towards the front of the Chapel, the hall only held a confession booth and a few candle stands, so there was plenty of room to chase her. Rushing after her, Scott came running up behind me. I pulled out the silver knife and started forcing as much energy as I could into it, before chucking it at her. Because I had only received it today, I didn’t have enough control to hit a specific part of her body, so instead, I aimed for the door.

To my surprise, it lodged itself in the door right next to the handle as she attempted to grab it, stopping her in her tracks. The girl turned towards us as if ready to fight, but her face showed that she was scared. It seemed as though she thought we were going to kill her. Of course, in her defense, I would think someone was going to kill me if they flung a knife at me as well. The girl stood completely still, as if she were despairingly weighing her options. Although there was a door right behind her, she didn’t dare flee toward it. Probably because she was waiting for us to make the first move, or perhaps she’d just given up? I didn’t know what Scott was waiting for, all I knew was we had to capture her. Then Scott finally spoke with a kind and caring voice.

“Listen, if you come quietly we will bring you to Mama Louise without a scratch on you,” Scott said.

“I can’t go back there, they will kill me,” she pleaded desperately but with a stoic look reminiscent of a cornered snake.

“What caused you to kill your client?” I asked, hoping to learn her side of the story.

“This isn’t an interrogation, kid,” Scott snapped at me, giving me a sharp glance.

“He wanted me to join him and help kill Mama Louise. He was a collector for a small branch of the Leprechaun banking system that wanted to use the Succubi to make themselves grow in power,” she said. This caused Scott to cautiously step toward her. She cowered in fear but instead of attacking her like I thought he would, he questioned her in a calm tone.

“We will not hurt you, but I want to know more. If what you're saying is true, then we could clear your name with Mama Louise and stop this branch group. I apologize for being so rude. My name is Scott Langston as you may already know,” Scott said as he stripped off his glove, extending his hand to her. She looked up at him and nodded.

“Isabell,” she said with suspicion, before shaking his hand.

Isabell laid out what happened, and why Mama Louise thought she was a traitor. Her story was fairly simple. A collector disguised as a client offered her a deal to kill Mama Louise. Refusing to betray Mama Louise, Isabell turned down the offer. The collector realized that she needed to die, lest word would get out, and attacked her. However, she ended up killing him in the process. One of her coworkers walked in on this and chased Isabell off even after she had explained the situation.

Her coworker then told Mama Louise that Isabell had killed a client, but not the part about why. She must have already sided with this branch group before then, and Isabell not being there made her coworker's story more believable to Mama Louise. Not knowing what else to do, she fled to the Priest, who was one of her best customers, to hide until she escaped elsewhere.