by Lantario Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:37 pm
Luck hadn't favored him this time. Lantario was now alone inside of the foyer of the establishment, not counting the doorman or his current conquest. He really didn't feel like trying to force them out of his way, nor did he have much of an appetite for sneaking in through the back. The human gently tipped his cap to the two who weren't paying any attention to him and made his exit. As soon as he was in the gentle rain, he pushed the doors closed and quickly tried to distance himself away from that hive of wretchedness. The smells were burned into his scent memory, and he hoped that he would be able to forget it in time. For now, though, what was important was finding an alternative route to his destination.
Lantario made a brisk walk to a seemingly worthless alleyway cluttered with paint-stained trash cans and frail remnants of cardboard boxes. The interesting arrangement of the buildings around this minute courtyard made it difficult to spot, and it wasn't large enough to hold anything relatively important for very long. The gambler had parked a motorcycle here, a blazing red Ducati 1098 R superbike. He had more than enough money from his consistently fortunate visits to famous casinos and was able to upgrade to the 1198, but he was tired of throwing his money at dealerships just to keep up with the trends. Besides, he wanted to enjoy at least some of his motor pool.
He climbed aboard his bike and withdrew a cellphone from his pocket, dialing a number and waiting patiently for the answer. After a moment or two, the receiving end picked up and answered in a rough, worn-out voice. "Do you know what fucking time it is?" spoke the receiver. "This is Machiavellian business, Reynald. The end j-" "I know, I know," replied Reynald, with the air of having heard the same thing a thousand times before and having gotten sick of it the first time around. "Just tell me what you need so I can give it to you and head back to sleep." Reynald was one of the daemonic scholars in the employ of their organization, the very same one responsible for discovering one of the artifacts that Lantario was now sent to retrieve. "Where's this Eulogy blade again?"
"Weren't you supposed to find out from one of the vampires at the den?" Reynald asked quizzically, hoping to hear a good excuse for Lantario not doing his job. "Yeah, well, apparently I came on orgy night. Can't even open the door without seeing them fucking all over the place. It's like that time at the Hindi temple, but with a whole mess of bloodthirsty vampires." "Ugh, I hope you didn't join in." "I was tempted, but I didn't have any silver condoms with me." The gambler retorted, rolling his eyes and getting a bit impatient. "Can you just tell me where the sword is so I can get it and get out of here?" Reynald laughed a bit at the reply, but once he had gotten his kicks, he decided to be helpful for a change. "Yeah, sure, it's about a five minutes' walk from here. Place belongs to a vampire named Zeke, though I'm sure he won't hand it over to a human for cheap."
So that's why the Prince sent me on this mission, Lantario thought. I've got deep enough pockets to endure being scalped. "Sure, you'll probably get admission if you knock on his front door and give him The Warrant, but as for getting the sword and heading out of there, you're on your own. Zeke's not one of us and doesn't really care for our organization, so don't trust him. Trust me when I say you need to get that blade at any price and get out." Reynald warned him, his tone sounding serious enough to count as sincere. "And if he already has customers pending?" Lantario asked. He didn't know if this vampire was busy with other patrons, but he needed to know just in case the contingency cropped up. He wasn't aware of how close to the mark he was with that query. "If that's the case, use your best judgment. If you wait until they leave, you'll only have Zeke to worry about, but then again, it's Zeke. The vampire may not want to bother with you as much while the other customers are there, but you don't know who those other customers may be or how friendly they are."
"Thanks for the advice, Reynald. I'll be on my way there." Lantario said, but before he could hang up, the groggy scholar had one more question. "Why did you ask about if there were any customers, though? Zeke's a recluse and gets business once in a full blue moon." "Oh, just a feeling, I suppose..."
With this, Lantario pulled his expensive bike out of the courtyard and started walking it towards Zeke's, wondering what might await him when he finally arrives.