The Himura Household,

The Following Day.

Hans woke up, alert and ready. No thanks to the events from the previous day, he somewhat felt restless and edgy; he surmised the Lovecrafts could attack at any time. He was expecting it because it was what he would do, if he were to be in their shoes, especially after murdering one of their own.

He was fatigued, unusually. The fight from the previous night was to blame – he had used up too much aura. All things being equal, vampires generally don’t require that much rest. It was broad daylight already, even though it was just around seven in the morning. He got out of bed and reached for his necklace lying on his bedside desk. There was a carved triangular Seal of Samuel symbol; an ancient pentagram etched on the neck piece. It was this he stared at affectionately before putting it on. It gave him a flashing image that acted as a recollection to his birth father.

Downstairs at the entrance to the mansion, Malcolm and Artemus, the family frontmen were on guard duty, as usual. Just that it was for the night this time. They would later be replaced by Vellesca and Hemphia to take the task for the day ahead. Thorian had decided that he would have to restructure the brethren in order to protect them. He awaited Hans’s arrival at the master room. Hans entered, swiftly paying the Himura head his respects.

“We are in a very dire situation Himura,” Thorian began. His back was turned toward Hans as he peered out of the window.

“What would you have me do?” Hans enquired.

“I can’t seem to understand their motives and the whole situation makes no sense at all. Why on earth would they send their most likely strongest member to his death alone?” speculated Thorian.

“Now I fear my actions may have been unreasonable” confessed Hans realising that his emotions largely exhibited his reason for killing off the Lovecraft guard.

“Because if you think about it, if they really wanted to attack us then they would have done so as a family. It’s like he said, he came for us at his own accord,” Hans continued.

“That is what I’ve come to see,” replied Thorian.

“And if that’s the case, then there will be bloodshed and I’d rather have our family act against them first” he continued and explained.

“I agree and I have an idea that could work” said Hans.

“I’m listening…” Thorian replied.

“Send me alone to kill them all or at least as many as I can” Hans said.

Thorian then turns back to look at how serious he looks about taking on such a difficult task.

“Are you crazy, you can’t beat them all…” added Thorian.

“Remember what happened to Brock after attacking our family. There’s no doubt about it, he was strong but not invincible,” Thorian buttressed.

“I know that but my combat strategy is catching foes off guard. And I can utilise it to my advantage. I’ll pick them off one by one” Hans explained, strategizing.

“A counter attack without them realising what hit them, this could be interesting,” opined Thorian.

“Proceed, but if it gets too hectic out there for you to handle then flee and return for aid,” Thorian summarised.

Hans nodded to his superior right before he sets off for the kill. Just before he finally departed, he quickly interacted with Vellesca and Hemphia at the household entrance; they had just recently replaced Malcolm and Artemus’ duties who were now resting.

“That was quite an impressive technique you pulled off there” praised Hemphia.

“Yeah, you’re just full of surprises,” Vellesca replied sarcastically.

Hans couldn’t ignore the cue that she didn’t want him around.

“Surprise your enemies, catch them off guard, that’s how you beat them” he replied seeming to be basking in the glory. His jarring words somewhat reminded Vellesca of her mistakes in battle. She realised how she often gave her position away through her battle shouts. Hemphia put her finger on her lips, pondering on his words. She accepted that he had a point. She couldn’t help but let out a smile that spread on her cheeks. She was fond of his attitude; that much she could tell. However, his confident statement only worsened things with Vellesca for she felt more insecure about her disappointing performance the previous night.

Hans left the mansion, strutting forth to end the Lovecrafts once and for all.

*****

Hanford Inn,

Evening.

Croid gazed at the naked body of Felicity on the bed, sprawled like she had not a worry in the world. He licked his lower lip as her nipple slipped out of the bedspread toward his gaze. Swallowing hard, he felt his manhood rise in his shorts. He grunted; as much as he wished he could slide back into bed to fool around with her, he couldn’t. The time was perfect to scurry out now. He cursed under his breath right before he slipped on his trousers. Asides the series of visible scars that adorned his back, there was still the fresh injury he had suffered to his abdomen. One which was yet to fully heal. As he stood before the mirror, absentmindedly checking himself out, he wondered how she had found him attractive in the first place. He didn’t bother to ask himself any questions – it was best he kept his thoughts to himself, for now.

Felicity stretched under the sheets. With a hand, she searched for Croid for his warmth. Her hand darted about in the emptiness just before her eyes sprung open and she regained full consciousness. Inhaling as she caught sight of him just standing there ahead, gazing intently at her now-aware eyes, she smiled, stretching and yawning.

“Jeez…what time is it?” Felicity asked.

“I’m not sure.” Croid replied, just before he retrieved his shirt from the bed.

“Let’s cut to the chase. What’s with the scars on your back?” she asked.

“I was wondering when you were going to ask that, it didn’t bother you last night though. Its personal and none of your business” Croid replied.

“It is my business if you plan to stay here rent free for now” Felicity bickered.

Croid turned his head to look at her politely.

“You’re not a Confederate, are you?” she asked.

“What’s with all the questions all of a sudden?” he replied.

“So, you’re with the Union, right?” she asked.

“Politics don’t concern me, it’s all bullshit ideologies and nothing more” he argued.

Felicity seemed lost by his statement – yet, weirdly enough, she felt some sort of unusual relief for some inexplicable reason. Even Croid was stunned to see her smile so brightly.

“Good because if you were a Confederate then I would have to report back to the syndicate” she confessed.

“The streets aren’t safe at the moment. There have been a lot of murders around town and it’s believed the Confederates could be behind them. This is because some real deal politicians make up the majority of the deaths you see” Felicity revealed.

“Is that why you offered me a place to stay?” asked Croid.

“Somewhat true…” she replied looking away from his eyes, rolling them toward the roof.

“Wow, I didn’t know you cared so much” he jokingly commented.

“Don’t let it get to your head…” Felicity moaned, hurling a pillow at his head.

“Besides you owe me now. And…you’re going to have to pay back what you owe,” she elaborated.

Croid pretended to be disappointed; he sank his head in his hands, shaking both concurrently.

“I knew this was too good to be true,” he said.

“Yeah well, welcome to the real world. Besides, that’s life,” Felicity replied.

There was some unbroken silence for a moment between them. She cleared her throat right before she spoke again, breaking the silence.

“There is a ton of stock I need shifted upstairs from the cellar, things need cleaning and some barrels need changing. You’re going to help me today” Felicity began.

“What about the work you were going to help me get?” Croid asked, caught off-guard.

“You’ll get it when I speak to them but in the mean time you can do something useful. I have to impress the new shareholders you see” replied Felicity.

It didn’t really bother Croid. He had nowhere else to go and was in a way satisfied that he could return the favour. It had always been the type of person he was anyway. She was indeed giving him a better offer compared to lingering on the streets which are according to her currently dangerous. Not only that, there was more: Croid enjoyed and loved her company.

He sighed, then asked “Very well, when do we start?”

“You can start by coming back to bed, it’s way too early,” she smiled. Croid returned a sneer right before he took off his top off to join her in pleasurable comfort.

Meanwhile, Hans had been scouting the local area for a while. And it seemed to be his lucky day for he had sensed the unusual presence of entities supernatural. Even though aware that another paranormal force lingered in the region in secrecy, he was more on the lookout for the Lovecraft family. Not that he had any clue to go on in regards to where they were domiciled. He was however focused on hopefully finding them in town, preferably in isolation so it would be easier for him to pick them off, one after the other. He had been waiting for a good opportunity to get rid of their head, Marimbo who seemed to be the biggest threat yet. Just as he had hoped for, the Lovecraft family were detected in separate places in Hanford. They were currently getting accustomed to their new surroundings – they even were going as far as making friends with the local townspeople.

Considering Brock was murdered the previous night, Hans wondered if they were suspicious or if they were even sentient to his demise. He couldn’t afford to be totally imprudent. He took his time to survey his environment and asked himself the required questions.

Why could they be separated? Is there any likelihood they were trying to attack his family?

He sighed; should his family come to be endangered by any threat from the Lovecrafts, he would have to hope they could take care of themselves while he was away. There was no turning back now. Heck, he didn’t see any other option. It was more than clear to Hans that if the Lovecrafts were ever to come to the knowledge that Brock was dead or by anyway link his demise to his family, a conflict was sure to break out.

Hans lingered within the shadows of the town square. The sun was nearly at the thick of the day. There was no way anyone could identify him in his bizarre dressing – dark, gothic, hooded robes that he had had to wear for apparent reasons. Some of the people who passed by him stared at him suspiciously. The town square wasn’t that far away from Hanford Inn and many people were there socialising, it was anyone’s typical day.

Marimbo was accompanied by two of his family members while they addressed the Mayor of the town, Yamon LeBaron. A fortunate opening. Hans had planned to take him out first before he had the chance to use his annoying telepathic abilities once more; it could pose a significant threat to his mission. If he got rid of their leader, he would surely weaken the resolve of the rest and then, he could gladly choose who to eliminate next.

Sigmund Lovecraft was standing beside Marimbo accompanied by another woman who also seemed to be part of the family too. Hans had never seen her before, at least after the two families had met. He suspected that she could be one of the family members the Lovecrafts had made references to the previous day.

“Damn it, this is going to be more trouble than I thought,” Hans muttered to himself. He retained himself in the cover of the shadows, cautiously eyeing them – he ensured they stayed within sights so he could plot an alternative machination to assassinate them as doing so in public could just be as catastrophic as it would be illogical. “We’ve heard that your family has travelled all over Europe” complemented the Mayor, addressing Marimbo. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to bring to the community” he added.

“Our contribution to maintain the Union’s goals,” replied Marimbo.

“Agon…” he continued, turning to the enchanting lady by his right. Hans sighed at the name mentioned. He recalled it spoken of the night before this current day. It was clear that this was the woman of reference.

“A small donation and with more to come, your honour.” Agon smiled as she stepped forwards, producing a cheque from under her robe. Hans saw the content – it was well over 50,000 dollars. Even though she was barely smiling, she still retained every trace of an enchantress that she was famed to be. If she had bothered to smile more, the sun could have been fuelled to rage, with jealousy.

The mayor was pleased to know he had some new powerful allies by his side. Like most people who encountered them, he was strangely drawn to the Lovecrafts and noticed that they all seemed to be bizarrely attractive people - for whatever reason he couldn’t explain. Agon stepped back to allow Marimbo enough room to exercise his authority as was his right.

“I trust you will be attending our ball? Most of the nobles will be coming we hope, a chance to discuss some business matters?” asked Marimbo.

Staring at the glittering note given to him as well as the influence the new family could afford him, there was no way in hell he could refuse their hand of partnership.

“A chance indeed” replied the Mayor.

Many of the nobles in town thronged to stand with the Mayor having taken notice of the Lovecraft family. Since he was the most lordly of them all and the most powerful member of the Nobles of Hanford, the deal was sealed. Marimbo had secured the Lovecrafts future efforts.

They ambled away from the town square once the locals began to gather. Hans disappeared into the concealed areas of Hanford. He decided that going after the Lovecraft head with his two other family members by his side would be a badly informed idea. There was something off about Agon that gave him the chills: her inner being and her empty outer self. It was totally cold, insentient to feelings or emotions and it reminded him of himself in a way. He couldn’t anticipate her seeing her too as an unpredictable and fearless warrior. The like that if he engaged without a plan in motion would surely end him.

There was still one advantage Husa’s family had against the Lovecrafts: the fact that they were still currently spread out. He knew that the best way to defeat them now would be to pick out the weaker members one by one. Hans detected the presence of three other supernatural beings to the east. He decided to check it out whilst he watched the currently discovered Lovecraft members head north.