TURN FIVE (b)
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| Journal of Professor Hodgeson: (Four weeks before the attack in the village) God forgive me!! I obeyed my instructions to the letter last night. I dispatched my assistant to the ruins north of our location. I followed him with the Slayers. As expected he was attacked and bitten by the creature. As soon as we were sure that he had been bitten we dispatched the creature by means of our silver bullets and purified the corpse with fire. We removed the unconscious Shalko to the cellar prepared for him and manacled him to the wall after dressing his wound. (The next day) He pleads in his own tongue, but we dare not release him. According to our calculations the disease should have spread through his body by the end of this week. After that we will experiment with the solution until we know the correct dosage. (Three days later) He is gone!!! We should have known that his strength would have grown beyond that of a mortal man. He tore the chains from the wall and made good his escape, crushing the skull of one of the Slayers as he went. Already the other two are making plans for his recapture. (The night before the attack in the village) I am the last,he has destroyed my companions and now he will come for me. The cunning of the beast has taken him, he made each of their deaths look like 'normal' murder. A dagger in the back for Valdoni and a syringe full of morphine for Baldo. How will he do for me? (The night after the attack in the village) He has bitten me. He laughed when it was done. He spares me for his own amusement. I must return to England as fast as possible. God grant that the solution is as effective as it is claimed to be. (The night of first attack in London) He is here!!!!! God knows how he has followed me, but he stopped me in the street. 'Are you still doing your research, Professor?' he sneered, "Allow me to assist you….again!!' and with that he was gone, leaving me trembling and short of breath. I will not go out tonight, I feel the beast stirring within me and must suppress it with the solution. (The night of second attack in London) Again the night has come…who will be next. Somewhere deep inside I know he will not end my torment yet…and yet again I must apply the solution to stave of the red thirst. (The night of third attack in London) Dear God!! I must fight the urge to run into the streets to warn all of London about the fiend that walks amongst them. Maybe I have gone mad….the solution itself is losing power and I must struggle against the doom that awaits me. (The night of fourth attack in London) Will tonight be the night that I transform and join my Dark Father in slaughtering the innocent? Will I remember anything of it the next day?? I am doubling the dosage, it may kill me but I need it now. (The night of club speech) Maybe tonight I will find the allies that I need to rid London of this terrible curse that I have created. My sources tell me that there are some capable men who regularly visit the club. God grant me that fortune that they will attend tonight. There must be an ending… (Tonight) I must break my own rules and venture out with the men I have 'recruited'. To not go would be to raise their suspicions to an unhealthy level and this must not be. The beast must die tonight …both of them. Thus the cycle turns and the Concordat of Vengeance shall at last be unfurled...yea yea praise Him-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name!!! F'naeyorn...Uzxlort Fhtagn!!! Oh God…let my hold the one within back until the terrible Shalko has been destroyed. Then I might find rest……Already I can feel the darkness growing within me……Ia!!Ia!! I come…….the madness has passed for now….. As you read the last few entries you sit back and wordlessly stare at each other. It is thought the rest of the pub has disappeared, leaving you alone in your area of silence and shock. It is only as the horrific realisations begin to seep through your consciousness that a sense of urgency replaces the lassitude that has overtaken you. Letting out the breath he's been holding, Arran quickly stands to his feet, looking from Jim to Sandow as he heads towards the door. "We have to warn the others," he states what hopefully they've all been thinking. Forgotten for now, is the invasion of the Professor's privacy, any judgement of events, there is only the fact that action must be taken. "Damn betcha." says Jim Buchanan, slamming the journal shut and offering it back to Sandow. "Let's go." He slings the rifle case onto his shoulder and is out the door after Arran, and pauses only briefly to orient himself. "This way, I think." he says, and lopes off down the street, heading toward where O'Shaunessy had indicated on the map. "One is bad, two is hell on Earth." he mutters under his breath. Sandow quickly follows behind, saying in hurried tones: "Act like you know nothing, you two, when we get there. Slow down as soon as you spot them. If they ask why you were rushing, just say you thought you heard a whistle, or something. The element of surprise, you know. we can go on from there, play the ace, don't go screaming murder, you know..." With that he shuts up and continues to walk at a fast pace, checking his gun in his pocket, almost sure something unspeakable has happened, and they will arrive too late. Nevertherless, maybe luck will be on their side... In Jim's wake, relying on the other man's sense of direction and local knowledge, Arran considers Sandow's words. He's fairly sure his face will give them away, the knowledge colouring his expression. "Didn't Caine say he'd be at home until eleven?" he asks, keeping pace with the other two, "We left the Professors alone together?" Concern drips off his words, his breathing a little ragged from the shock, unaffected by the speed of their movement. "Maybe we should give the whistle signal when we get within range? Or d'you think it's too late for that?" "You can....if you like, signal O'Shaunessy and the Professor." says Jim. "I'm going to go in the back way, and try to get a good idea of what's going on...this could all be an unnecessary amount of precaution, but I don't like the whole idea of what he was talking about in that journal....if he goes mad and attacks O'Shaunessy, we've got two of them on our hands. Tell 'em I'm off drunk somewheres....anybody that's seen me will believe it. Whatever we encounter, can we agree that the Professor is a danger to ourselves and others, despite his good intentions ? And don't you dare get close to the Professor, boy ---" Jim gives a quick glare to Arran, as they move along briskly, "Leave killing to killers!" A little sulkily, his face perhaps a little taken aback by the older hunter's words, Arran responds swiftly without forethought. "Agreed he's a danger, sure," he admits, "but I wouldn't be carrying a gun if I didn't know how to use it. I'm not helpless, alright?" Leaving the handgun holstered for now, he continues to follow Jim, the flash of internal anger temporarily overriding the feeling of nausea at what they might find at their destination. Jim halts and devotes another glare at Arran, which softens into a sad look, of regret. "I was your age once, and I shot men every day --- do you think I want you to know what that's like ?" he says, and doesn't wait for an answer, but hurries onward "If you're gonna work round behind them and we're walking straight in, what's the plan if everything looks okay? Someone's gonna have to distract the Professor while the other tells O'Shaunessy the score, right? Or where do we go from there?" Arran frowned, "If Caine is with them, he'll never believe us and the Professor will suspect something's up for sure when we turn up anyway." "Look, Son ---" Jim says, then catches the look, "Arran. If everything looks okay, you and Sandow just stay with the Professor and O'Shaunessy, and let me stay in the shadows. You don't have to worry about me. Just say I'm off drunk in some bar....pub....or something, and you got worried and came looking for the Professor, figuring I was useless. I will do my best to watch from where I am, and to cover both potential dangers.....I'm willing to risk my life, but I want the odds stacked in your favour, both of you. If it looks like the Professor is going to turn, I'll do my best; don't be afraid to fire into him and me if we're locked in combat. Last thing I'd want to do is survive a fight with a werewolf, only to become one myself....I'm wicked enough already. As for Caine, what he believes, is what he believes....you can't shake a man from his ideas until he gets slapped in the face with the truth, sometimes." With a friendly knowing smile that says a little more than he does, Arran nods. "Okay, agreed on the cover story, and we won't give you away, don't worry," he looks from Jim to Sandow quickly then back to Jim again as he continues, "but don't discount our help either, alright? I'm a reasonably good shot, if things kick off I can hopefully get a hit in before you have to go hand to hand with it. And I won't just stand by and let you get killed either. You can't expect me to," he adds quickly. "It sounds as if the Professor wants to kill the other wolf, but what do you think he plans for himself? To get one of us to just kill him? Think that's really the best solution?" He sighs then, still keeping up with Jim's pace, concern for what they might encounter, what they will have to face sooner or later, beginning to ebb back into his system. "We nearly there yet?" Jim shushes the two of them as they approach where he thinks O'Shaunessy, the Professor, and possibly Caine, too, may be waiting, and goes off to lurk in the shadows. With a quick glance in Jim's direction, then a sigh directed at Sandow, Arran walks confidently forward, approaching the area where he hopes to find the others. Unsure of what he might be walking into, gun holstered in a silent tribute to his faith in Jim's ability, and yet a slight quickness in his breath giving him away. His initial reaction is to call out to the other party, but after a moment's forethought, Arran decides to walk in quietly, get a bead on the situation first, hoping against hope it will all be peaceful, that they aren't too late. As the hour approaches ten o'clock you arrive at the location where the other members of your group should be. However, there is no sign of them at all. The only people present are the ever-present streetwalkers and their protectors. Exhaling in a mix of relief and concern, Arran takes a quick look around at those gathered, and heads over to a randomly selected streetwalker, smiling wryly at her. "Evening ma'am," he nods politely, accent lilting the words softly, "We've, er, lost some friends we were sposed to meet around here," he tells her, "Have you by any chance seen a very well-spoken, smartly dressed man with two older men at all this evening?" Arran considered Caine; he had to stick out around here surely, "It's very important that we find them," he added, "Not safe tonight, as you probably know, ma'am." "Is he crazy…or wot??" is the confirmation you receive from her. "He come up to uis and give us money, tellin' us to go home as it wasn't safe for us on the streets!!!" Her eyes betray the scorn she feels at some toff telling her how dangerous the streets can be. "Him and his mates went off that way, " she indicates the direction with a flick of her head, "…after poking around that alley over there." The alley she is talking about is the one which Professor O'Shaunessy though would be worth staking out. Figures, thinks Arran with a wry smile in her direction. "Y'know what the wealthy are like, ma'am," he answers her in a calm tone, "They don't notice anything til it affects them and then they think throwing money at it will solve everything, right?" His smile is intact, unable to avoid the expression as he considers Caine's approach. "Thanks for your time and your assistance, we better go see if we can find them, huh, 'fore they get in any more trouble?" Jim, listening from the shadows, waits for Arran and Sandow to finish speaking to the working girl, and then moves out of the shadows as if walking normally..not lurking. "All right...." he says to the two men. "An alley is a tight area, hard to sneak down, and I don't want to spook O'Shaunessy and take a bullet or two for my troubles. Let's just head over, with me in front, and be ready to see what's going on, as quick as we can." Acknowledging Jim's arrival with a nod, Arran listens to his proposal and frowns unhappily. He still doesn't like this idea of self-sacrifice the older man has, but realises there is little point in delaying matters with an argument. "Okay," he reluctantly agrees, falling into a flanking position to Jim's left, "but if they moved on, we should get on their tails fast, right? Not that Caine's trail won't be easy to follow, but I'm real worried about timing," his eyes show his concern as he looks to Jim and then Sandow, "We just can't be too late on this one." "I a-agree," says Sandow, stammering perceptibly and getting his words all mixed up, "let's get there real fast. The more merrier it will be, safer too without a slice of doubt or ignoring. Let us hope God blesses us in all our work tonight...", doing the sign of the cross briefly. He then takes out his gun with a pained, intensely troubled look, and checks it by opening and inspecting it. He then closes it quickly, having a quick look around to make sure no one's spotted him, probably too late, then places it back in his inside coat pocket, and waits for Buchanan to lead the run. "Go Buchanan, run like Hell's right behind yours. Or in front. Ha! Ha!" He then smiles in a camaraderie fashion and partly out of comfort for Buchanan's dangerous undertaking, waiting for his reply or action. Expression cautious, manner guarded, Arran moves forward, aiming for the alley at first, curious to see if there is anything lurking. Conscious of the time continuing relentlessly, he needs to be doing something. "Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell." says Jim Buchanan, in a soft growl, and heads along the alleyway, ready for anything, leading the two men into who knows what. He moves as cautiously as a man hunting lion, listening and moving as silently as he can, seeking the shadow's contents without straining his eyes hard, to keep from seeing what isn't there, and his hand is on the grip of his pistol. He hopes to find O'Shaunessy and Caine soon....before any problems occur, with the Professor, or the werewolf. The dark alleyway could as well be the savannah on a moonless night, and the stalker may well be stalked, a fact that never leaves his mind, nor the fact that he's responsible for the safety of the other two men. |