§ - Wine, blood and mortar - §

[Dawnshade]

The limousine rolled to a stop; one black boot set down on the pavement followed by its brother. A man of above average height stepped from the vehicle swathed in an Armani suit and pinstriped tie. Long scraggly locks framed his narrow and pointed face. Two ocean blue eyes surveyed the church ahead.

The Holy Trinity church had a boring and very plain history, it was constructed at the turn of the century on the edge of a growing town and was soon consumed by the sprawling city until it was abandoned in favor of a new modern building closer to the city center. The old stone building was built in the old style of churches, in the shape of the Roman cross. Stain glass windows depicted several scenes from the Bible as imagined by long forgotten artists.

Sirindae Deomor Winters made his way through the arched front door and into the depths of the church were chaos and commotion made itself at home. Constructors, contractors and laborers of assorted distinction were busy at work repairing pillars, floors and leaky roof tiles while artists repaired broken pottery and restored paintings.

Long white sheets draped across old fashioned pews and altars like the sails of great ships. One such sheet was pulled back to reveal a man of early forties with broad shoulders and a bulbous nose. Dark blue eyes locked on Sirindae and appraised him from a distance. Solstice Winters was an opposite in many ways to his cousin, while Sirindae looked like he was born of royalty, Sol looked as if he had just walked out of a bar fight. A short man with a shorter temper was an apt description.

The two men shook hands and shared a brief smile.

"Good to see you mate," Sol nodded to his cousin the new owner of the church.

"How are things progressing on this end?" Sirindae inquired as he gazed around the large main hall with anticipation in his eyes.

"Only a few more days until things can progress I'd reckon".

"Excellent".

Once the mortar had set the real plans could be set in motion.

[Karmencita]

Since the most unfortunate event of her birth in the final year of the seventeenth century, little had been required of Vitani to keep hold of her de facto title as Top Banana of Maoijka. As a particularly virulent member of the undead, armed with infinite resources, countless armies of minions and an insatiable thirst for crossing the line, she faced very few challengers. Those who dared stake a claim to authority, however superficial – in the end, she was an apocalyptic harbinger of evil and thus quite capable of beating the shit out of anyone and anything who didn't toe the line – did so with her blessing or in secret, and secret authority kind of defeats the point.

Nevertheless, she had a sixth sense for mischief, and today it flared up like eczema. In the dark, treacherous depths of Satar, the facial muscles of an Akuelån Serpent Demon tightened. To a trained observer, of whom there were few, it was a smile. To anyone else, utterly hideous. But no matter whose eyes caught the reflection of the serrated jaws parting and the sleek, black body of the otherworldly beast begin to dissolve into thin air, they had one thing in common: they knew it meant trouble.

She materialised in a shady corner just outside the renovated church – human, dressed casually in a belted overcoat and jeans, having decided to abandon her traditional wrecking ball entrance for something a little classier. Her vacation had left her delightfully pale, waxy skin stretched taut over hard, angular features. She crept forward, lips curved in a barely-there half-smile one wears in public to give off the impression of anonymous content, ready to greet whosoever decided to be the first to confront her about her presence in what looked like a 'Authorised Access Only' area. The internal machinery of her left eye was working over-time in its blood-red case, emitting a high-pitched purr that accompanied her into the relative gloom of the old church. Churches. A gloved hand reached out to touch the careworn wall. What was everyone's obsession with churches? Two men were enjoying a few formalities at the far end of the decrepit building, talking quietly to each other amidst the hustle and bustle of renovation. Vitani proceeded as though she were in a museum, hands clasped at the small of her back and a look of faked interest painted on her face as she walked, chin high, through the crowd of perspiring workers. The foreman – a portly man with a hefty moustache to make up for his lack of any real power – scuttled up to the Winters cousins, one beady eye on the intruder as he alerted the leadership to her presence. ”Some girl, sirs,” he murmured, flashing the approaching demon a look of distaste. Vitani mentally noted him down as a potential hors d'oeuvre.

[Dawnshade]

Sirindae raised a thick brow to peer over his cousin's shoulder and appraise the 'girl' approaching through the gloom of the church. Sol had turned about to watch her as well.

"Do you think she accidentally missed the 'personnel only' sign? Probably just another teenager poking their nose where it doesn't belong. Had a few bastards down here the other night breaking windows and making off with souvenirs from the statues by the gate".

"No unfortunately I think she knows exactly where she is. If you'll excuse me gentlemen," Sirindae strode past the two still men and moved to intercept their uninvited guest.

"Excuse me madam, but this is private property and a restricted area; safety and all". He vaguely gestured towards a 'danger' sign cable tied to some scaffolding nearby. There was something disturbingly familiar about the female, her scent was strong and had a similar affect as one would achieve by sniffing sulphuric acid. She wasn't human, she wouldn't make for a tasty snack and she was riding on Sirindae's last nerve. He didn't have time for self obsessed egotistical melodramatic demons to be getting messed up in his personal business... not yet anyways.

[Karmencita]

"Excuse me madam, but this is private property and a restricted area; safety and all".

He was just about as human as she was. Vitani didn't have to breathe in to know that. ”Oh?” Her best 'innocent woman gone astray' voice was a far cry from the real thing, but it would have to do. If the pin-prick pupil swimming in her eye and the sheer antiquity oozing from her person weren't enough to alert the supernatural newbie that something was wrong, her undisguised insincerity was yet another clue. ”Must've missed the sign,” The huge, bright, danger-yellow sign with letters the size of a yeti's foot, ”But don't worry about me. I'm sure I'll cope if something should...fall down. What exactly are you doing?” Challenge glinted in her organic eye like a cheap star burst effect.

[Dawnshade]

A soundless snarl graced his features before it was ruthlessly suppressed, replaced with a stern no nonsense expression. He turned his head to Sol, a wordless conversation passed between them. Blue eyes flaring with indignation he turned to address the demon.

"Well now we wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to a lady such as yourself".

Two men, better described as vaguely humanoid pigs came up behind her and made to 'escort' her from the premises. "Let's go lady".

Sirindae stepped away from the scene to finish his conversation, but in his rather large brain wheels were turning. A obscenely tall man who was as thin as a rake in priestly garb approached the group of men eagerness in his steps. "Sir!"

[Karmencita]

"Well now we wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to a lady such as yourself."

Her paper thin façade dissolved like cotton candy. Fanged jaws parted, and a raw, scornful laugh issued forth. ”Actually, sonny-boy,” she purled, her true face coming to life like embers in a breath of air. ”You would. You really, really would.” Meaty fingers closed around her arms, but it didn't take more than a couple of fruitless tugs for the dimwitted goons to realise that Vitani wasn't going anywhere. ”Be a good lad - turn around and answer my question before I dispose of the help.”

[Dawnshade]

The aforementioned dimwitted goons stumbled into the scaffolding, the two store y monstrosity bending and swaying hazardously as two men on top clung to the railings and their paintbrushes. A paint can went tumbling over the side and landed with a loud thunk a gargoyle statue, a resounding 'crack' echoing throughout the cavern as its hooked nose snapped off. The can of paint just happened to be unlidded and as it bounced off the decor it landed on one of the great billowing sails smearing sunshine yellow as it rolled to a stop in the center of the suspended 'sheet-net'.

"Bugger," Sol muttered looking forlornly at the mess.

Sirindae raised two spidery long fingers and rubbed the bridge of his nose in distaste as he eyed the mess and than the female-demon interrupting his perfectly peaceful day. He raised two palm faced hands in a notion of surrender once he had turned to face the she-demon.

"There's no need for you to be killing anybody demon. I'll explain what is happening in this establishment and than I'm sure you'll do the polite thing and leave". He sneered, his upper lip drawn back to reveal two rows of perfectly straight crystal white teeth.

Father Francis gasped audibly at the mention of the word demon, he scrutinized the female before them. So this was a demon. A demon in his church, well... his to be church, truly unthinkable...

"This is a church, I am financing its restoration and hoping to establish a small community church in this area". The undertone in his voice was something along the lines of 'duh'. Sol rolled his eyes in the background, you'd think the building supplies and dimwitted laboring goons would of spelled it out. There was a definite glint in his eyes though.

[Karmencita]

”I'm not even going to bother with sarcasm,” she replied, paying the commotion caused by the paint can's suicidal drop no attention what-so-ever – except, for a brief instant, to delight in the sound of the statue's aesthetically displeasing nose being ripped from its face. ”Humans go to church. Creatures with finite lifespans. You,” she crossed her arms definitely over her chest – playing the part of the obstinate child added a satirical innocence to her actions and words that Vitani quite enjoyed. If nothing else, she was a showman. With little else to worry about in life (or whatever the demon equivalent was known as), theatrics became important. ”You,” she repeated, shaking her head, ”Don't go to church. Now let's speed this little fiesta along – tell what you're actually planning to do, or I'll throw a tantrum.” No, she thought, I'm most definitely not above that. ”Actually – I'll throw a tantrum regardless, but humour me, why don't you.”

[Dawnshade]

The sun was setting. The shadows lengthened across the floor, the statues seemed to come to life with malicious stares and silent snickering. Sirindae narrowed his eyes as he gazed out a high window, before returning his gaze to the demon. Nothing was getting done this way, he'd made his point.

"Everybody out!" He called loudly, much of the noise stop, more of it persisted. Sol raised an eyebrow of amusement at his cousin before lifting the foreman's whistle to his mouth - nearly succeeding in choking the poor man as it happened to be tied around his neck - and blew loudly. In the resulting silence Sirindae restated his pressing need for everybody to get the hell out but in a much more civilized manner befitting a man of his station. There was a scurry of men out of the door, a few lingering looks on the party of five and then an almost deafening silence.

Sirindae kept a sharp eye on the demon as the workers progressed out the door, wary of her striking them down. "Thanks for coming, see you bright and early tomorrow," he nodded dismissively as he addressed the foreman, who looking a little shell shocked walked out shaking his head and making wide berth around the so called 'demon'.

Left standing in the church were Sirindae, his cousin Solstice and a fidgeting Father Francis.

Solstice ripped a gleaming silver gun out of his jacket and aimed it dead on with the demon, a feral grin on his face. "Now bitch, we can talk.."

[Karmencita]

A gun. A gun. Vitani cocked a brow, feigning incredulity. Her eyes roved along the short, sleek barrel of the weapon, and quickly darted to meet Sirindae's eye. "You can't be serious." Honestly. I've swallowed explosives and lived. The delusions of some of Maoijka's residents was getting a little old - a little irritating, in fact. The demon's expression hardened, and she curled the fingers of one hand into a loose fist. "Spare me the hole in my coat, dipshit, and get to the point - fast. In fact - have you lived here long? Do you have the slightest inkling about how things work in this city?"

[Dawnshade]

Firepower was one way.

Talking was Sirindae's way.

"We aren't serious," he put one arm over Sol's outstretched hand and forced him to lower the weapon, ignoring the angry glare shot his way.

"I was born here, but I haven't been 'home' in a while. Now, I really desperately need you to vacate these premises so things can progress and I'd like that to occur with minimal damage to the building and my person; perhaps you'd like to offer me a solution to this predicament? What will it take for you to ... leave?"

Father Francis was a god fearing man. He'd just become a demon fearing man. His coal black eyes were wide in stunned fear and he was just a little bit twitchy. Sol eyed the man with concealed distaste, "man are you alright?"

[Karmencita]

The personified version of Vitani's coat breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not leaving," Vitani declared with a triumphant smirk. She removed one glove by grasping the index finger between her teeth, then used the free hand to ease its mirror image out of the other. "You clearly don't want me here, so stay I shall until you reveal your little plot to me." The coat, unbuckled, was shrugged off her shoulders. Pleased to be free of her restrains, Vitani stretched, yawning like a big cat - and with similar teeth. "I've got all day. All week. Forever and ever."

[Dawnshade]

Sirindae was a patient man, but this she-demon was seriously stretching his limits. Even Sol felt a little nervous as he watched Sirindae's temper rise like mercury on a blistering hot day. Enough was enough. He ripped the gun up and pulled the trigger three times, shaking his wrist afterwards to dumb the recoil. The good father gave a startled yelp as the shots went off, paling drastically. The guy really was a sodding wimp, how Sirindae thought he would lead them to revolution over the rotting undead was beyond his contemplation.

"Eat lead bitch," he snarled. Sirindae looked furious as he turned to face his cousin, and Sol admitted he might of been hasty.

"Get out of here," Sirindae snarled making moves towards the back entrance, dragging a trembling and comatose Francis behind him. Solstice fired a fourth shot before retreating after the duo.