When last we spent time with our resident Vampire, he managed to find a way into the manor, in its apparent abandonment. He rose to the open window, entered, and eventually floated to the ground floor within, upon which he stumbled over bedlam! Immerse yourself in the details of the last chapter here. Now, what in blazes did he find?! Let’s find out.
The Vampire stepped off the bannister onto the balcony of the floor below his own residence. Normally, floor-to-ceiling glass would provide a barrier between the interior of the building and the courtyard. Here, however, the glass was shattered; no barrier stood in place. Beyond the threshold of where the glass should be, broken furniture and demolished walls awaited him. He stepped over the larger piles of glass and entered the battered hallway to find the mess littered its entirety. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the ruin was decorated with the decomposing remains of animal, human, and vampire alike. The destruction was old enough such that much of it was long in decomposition and was alleviated of the worst of its smells, though the visual display of the carnage persisted.
The Vampire frowned. While he carried no assumptions of what drove his coven from the manor, he had not entertained, nor anticipated in the slightest, the idea the coven had turned on itself, let alone met with a menace stronger than itself to cause such damage. Intimately aware of the layout of the manor, the Vampire determined there would be little to learn here. He turned and walked back to the balcony, stepped up to the bannister, and floated the remainder of the way to the courtyard, ignoring the other floors.
Once on the ground floor, the Vampire moved to one of the servants' entrances, striding face first into the door. Full of expectation of it opening on his command, it did not, due to some blockage on the opposing side preventing it from doing so. He stepped back, shook his head, and took a moment to rub his face. No long term damage done, though the shock of it gave him pause. Upon recovery, he turned to find another way in, hoping the entirety of the bottom floor was not in so complete a disarray. The servant entry he tried would have provided the most direct route to his destination, but alas, it was barred to him.
The main entrance was thrown wide open; the doors had been torn off their hinges and lay leaning against frame. The vampire looked beyond the threshold and determined this may be his best way forward. Though a longer way around, it was likely he had little choice, as he was unaware of the extent of the damage done to the interior on the ground floor. He turned and strode across the threshold of the main entryway, his shoes crunching over broken glass and other smaller bits of debris. Once inside the reception area, he scanned the immediate vicinity. There appeared to be a path carved through the destruction to one side; someone—or, perhaps, many someones—had forced their way through, in the direction the vampire desired to move. How convenient. He picked his way over the debris through this makeshift pathway. Sure enough, it led directly to the stairwell he was hoping to attain.
Continued after the break
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The door to the stairwell was thrown open, such that the handle had been smashed into the wall behind it, and thus held there. Dust lay thick over everything, and so the Vampire assumed little if no trouble awaited him. He threw himself headlong into the deep descent awaiting. The manor boasted a service elevator which moved to the depths of its sub-levels, but the vampire held no illusions of its current working order, opting instead to take the long way down.
The stairwell carried him past the few levels occupied by the parking garage, and then opened onto a floor that rimmed a massive cylindric column barreling deep underground. He turned to find the stairwell continued below, and thus continued his journey. He passed the level occupied by the blood labs, and the level occupied by the human farms, moving along with complete indifference. There would be time to examine these later, if necessary, or when appropriate. Right now he had in mind a more relevant place to continue his investigation. The mausoleum-like crypt above ground was reserved for the elders of the coven, of which there were only three. Those of the younger generations wanting to hibernate did so below, where the natural cycles of time and light above would not hamper their rest. This is where he headed now, and was quite winded by the time he arrived.
At the door indicating the Lower Barrows, he found what he expected in its exactness: everything was untouched by the carnage above. Either none of the coven fled downwards, else only those who survived did, and did so unhampered by whatever calamity occurred on the surface. Still, he was unsure what awaited him opposite the door shut tight against him, and he was not so foolhardy as to expect the immensity of his powers to protect him against the worst of what had come against his people. With this in mind, he opened the airlock, that seal against dust and water and every other thing which might prevent the longevity of the lives within, ready to flee at the slightest sign of disturbance.
to be continued …
Hmm. A “Lower Barrows.” Interesting. Vampires are such interesting creatures, aren’t they? Who can say what our resident vampire will find upon entering these “Lower barrows,” but we shall discover it alongside our hero! You can read Part V here.
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