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They wound down several more flights of stairs, attempting to move in silence, with a human in the lead, followed by Isabelle and the vampire, with Edgar taking up the rear behind the other two humans. Edgar was wary. He didn't know what they would find when they arrived at their destination, but he was sure of at least one thing: if there was one vampire, there would be others. He realized his outburst on the stair earlier may have been rash; he felt it necessary at that juncture but was now reconsidering. He was one among the eldest vampires on the planet--this, he knew without a doubt--and this gave him immense advantage over most vampires. But he wasn't omnipotent; there were limits to his strength, and so he rarely ever leaned upon it. He hoped he wouldn't have to now.

Isabelle, on the other hand, was itching for a fight. It had been too long since she had exercised the full potential of her preternatural abilities. She longed to rip, tear, and rend flesh for the pleasure and sustenance it provided. She wanted to run, leap, and climb, confounding her prey, that flesh she so strongly desired to consume. The Screech Collar muted her compulsions somewhat, but it was her self-control keeping her from leaping down and killing the lead human.

Her very strained self-control.

If Edgar knew Isabelle's insatiable hunger, he would lock her down harder with the collar, she mused; this further tempered her compulsions. Still, she expected someone to royally fuck up. Oh how she wished for it. Then the feast would begin.

They rounded a landing and headed down a final flight before the lead human paused to knock at a door in the stair well, the rest of the group bunching in behind him. Isabelle peered over the balustrade to find the stair continued down for many more floors. She looked up and saw Edgar's helmet turned in her direction. His fingers repeated a short pattern of movement. It took Isabelle a moment to recognize the pattern. He was telling her to remain on alert. She straightened and turned away from the stair to face the door.

The human's knock was met with another knock. The human returned the knock with yet another. This went on for a few more passes before the door was unlatched. An absolute bear of a man threw the door open, and a series of weapons were raised against the small group. The human in the lead stepped aside and the vampire stranger stepped forward with their arms raised.

"They're with me."

The large, burly man just stared at the vampire. It appeared he wasn't going to move. He raised his hand, and at a single gesture, the weapons were lowered; the humans wielding them retreated deeper into the building, appearing unconcerned. The group was let into through the door, which was slammed shut and locked behind them.

Continued after the break

Once inside, the vampire stranger took the lead and moved with purpose down the dark hall. Edgar noticed the lack of light throughout and wondered at it. No electricity, even here where humans made their abode. Humans and vampires, he corrected himself. The thralls he knew would have some ability to see in the dark; he wondered if there were many vampires here, if all humans here were their thralls. His answer came in the form of candlelight: as they rounded a bend in the hallway, light spilled out from numerous rooms, and all of it from sources not electric. Humans populated these rooms. Many looked up from their duties and activities to watch the small group pass by. From their scent, Edgar knew they were not all thralls. As they moved through this section, he determined very few of these humans were, if any. He wondered if the three humans escorting them were the only ones. If so, then this vampire would be on their own.

The vampire led them to a small room in a corner of the building. The room was not much larger than a closet, making it a tight space for the five creatures who funneled into the room. One of the vampire's thralls shut the door behind them, once they were all inside. An oil lamp was suspended in the center over a small, bare table, the light reflected well off the bare white walls. The windows were boarded up, with small gaps in the chipboard covered over with what appeared to be translucent film. The floor was solid concrete; Edgar assumed whatever had served to cover it had been torn out. Perhaps the concrete served better to mask their movement. With his attention to the ground, Edgar noticed the vampire and their thralls were all barefoot, a detail he was surprised to have missed since their first engagement.

Edgar and Isabelle each stood on either side of the table, along its length. The vampire took up the space at one end of the table while their thralls took up positions by the door. Edgar turned his head, pointing his helmet's visor to the door and the humans surrounding it.

"I assure you, this is for your protection as much as it is for everyone else's," said the vampire, noticing where Edgar drew his attention.

Edgar turned his head to face the vampire.

"And how do I know I can accept your assurances?"

The vampire reached up and undid the clasps securing their helmet to the rest of their outfit. Then, without pomp or circumstance, they removed their helmet and placed it on the table. Isabelle gasped and stepped back, before regaining some semblance of control over her reactions. The vampire stared at Edgar.

"Because we're family."

It was Ceres.

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