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Chapter 5:The first night of the rest of eternity?
Colera wakes up in a dark room some what disorientated. It takes her a few minutes to remember were she is. As she surveys the room her vision adjusts to the black surroundings. To her surprise she is able to discern the grim features on the wall. The room hasn't been interred for what could well be centuries. She walks over to the wall where there used to be a window. It must have been bricked up years ago as the mortar is cracked and crumbling.
She lights the candles that are the only source of illumination available on ether side of the window. The candles sparkle and crackle when they are lit, do to extreme dust accumulation and disuse. They give the room an other-worldly appearance, because of the erratic and uneven light they give off.
Near the window is an old roll top desk and chair that are covered with a thick layer of dust. On the other side of the room is a large canopy bed. Next to the bed is a small night stand with an empty oil lamp and a jewelry box next to it. Everything in the room speaks of better times, when the furniture had been lush with plush new velvet cushions, fine silk coverings, and lace trim. Now the lace is yellow, the silk rotting, and the velvet has lost its luster and is worn to a stubble. There is a closet on the far wall that is filled with gowns dating to some bygone era, much like the furniture itself.
A small portly woman inters the room with out knocking. "I see that we are up now." colera glances over and her eyes narrow as she replies " Yes we are." Her voice just dripping with sarcasm. The woman seems surprised as she responds "My we are in a nasty mood today, aren't we Colera." Colera's eyes flash with anger as the strange woman says her name. Carefully controlling her voice she casually says "And, who, may I ask, are you? I see that you know my name. I think that it is only right that I know yours as well."
The other woman laughs a strange, eery laugh devoid of warmth or humor before answering. "Well, you are quit striate forward. Don't dawdle about much, do you? My name is, if you must know, and I suppose you must, is Kandisten no more no less." Kandisten looks closely at her. "Well, if I didn't know I'd say you were the old Miss herself. A dear lady, Very beautiful. I can see why he spent his time to get you. The only thing that keeps the picture from being completed is the cloths. Even the hair is the same or almost." Kandisten walks over to the closet and starts going threw the garments in side as she talks, eventually removing a pale blue dress that seems to be made of satin and lace.
Colera listens intensely to Kandisten, her mind working rapidly. Thinking to herself that she could use at lest one friend under these strange new circumstances rather then another enemy she decides to play along and be nice. "Here, let me help you." She smiles sweetly as she talks to the strange woman "I really don't know what's expected of me."
Kandisten smiles as her new ward amperes to be settling into her new life and role. She turns to Colera and continues. "No, you just don't worry your little head off about me, not at all. Just sit yourself down in that there chair. When he said that he had put you in the mistresses room, may she now rest peacefully, I was surprised and a tad upset. Now I can see why, and I feel better about it to boot."
Colera sits in the chair as Kandisten talks and cleans up the room. by the time Kandisten is finished talking about 'the dear lady' Alesha Storn she not only had the room clear of dust but, she also had Colera's hair in plates around her head and Colera in the old gown she had removed from the closet. When finished she hustles Colera to the library were she finds Storn is waiting for her when she arrives.
"It is time to begin your education, my dear." He says softly as he indicates towards the door. Reluctantly she heads out into the night with Storn following close behind her his hand grasping her shoulder gently but form. A not so subtle reminder of his presence's. When she tries to shackle it off she discovers that his grasp is far stronger then she had really anticipated. He forces her to pause in the street and says as he gently grasps her face. "Now my dear, that sort of thing is not really called for. We are in this together now, whether you like it or not. I assure you you will get used to me as did my late wife." Still holding her face he kisses her gently. Colera spits in his face and he laughs his strange eerie laugh as they continue.
He takes her to a place known simply as The Shack. Its name long forgotten and its sign covered with soot even longer. So thick that it would take more then a chisel to clean. The shack is one of those rough house bars that that operates with out a licensees because even if the owners weren't to cheap to get one they wouldn't be able to and the police won't check them out any way. It tends to draw the filth of the earth, thieves and worse. It stands in a part of town where pit bulls would be afraid to tread.
"This is a prime hunting ground for our kind. It's places like this that a vampire can hunt with little fear of being noticed and caught, for what is the unnatural killer in a world of killers and death? Who is to notice an unnatural death when natural death and murder is common place. This is definitely the safest place for a fledgling's first kill."
"What is this place?" questions Colera as they come upon the bar knowing even as she speaks the answer. She is perfectly familiar with this particular bar having worked within its dingy walls as both a waitress and a dancer wearing various wigs to avoid recognition outside by any of its patrons, a trick that was not always successful.
"In my younger days it was known as The Claw and Tooth. It was a place of thieves and cut throats even then, and remains so today. Now it The Shack, as far as any one knows." He answers. "Its time for your first lesson, choosing the prey." He walks to the door . Colera stops and turns around, knowing that there are quite possibly several individuals hidden inside the establishment who know and would recognizes her. People she prefers to avoid. She looks at Storn and says while trying to control her voice says "We have to go in there? Surly there is a better place for my first lesson?"
Storn turns towards her. His eyes sparkle in irritation that lasts but a second mistaking her reluctance for the fear of one who has never even been on this side of town much less in a bar with such a reputation he calmly explains "Yes we do have to go in there. I can assure you that its perfectly safe for us. You have no need to worry." as he says this he walks over to her and lifts her chin. Colera looks at him in the eyes for a minute. Her resolve hardens to cold steal and she decides that she will prove herself better then this man who claims to have so much power over her. She brakes their gaze and, turning on her heal, marches determinedly into the crumbling building. He follows behind quietly.
The inside is not much better then the outside. The furniture is dingy and worn, the atmosphere is strained and untrusting, like the lull before a storm. The smoke from all manner of cigarettes an cigars swirls to create a garish blue cloud that fills the room. What light there is gives the contents of the place a sinister look. The bartender is a brought of a man sporting a long jagged scar that traces a line from his hair to his chin. What hair he has is thin and a rather dingy brown. His smile shows several teeth missing and others that are blackened and dead. When Colera enters every one watches her. She steps calmly up to the bar and sits down. no one notices Storn enter, He stays towards the back of the room. Taking the opportunity to leave the distasteful mans side hoping that her chances of evading his gaze long enough to slip quietly away and find help will be greater she walks over to the bar and smiles at the bar tender, an old friend who places a drink in front of her. He leans over the bar and whispers "What are you doing with that freak, and what's with the biker cloths? Its really not your style." She leans back and takes a small sip of her drink as she talks to her friend. "He's some cooque. He's snagged me with some drug or hypnosis or something. As soon as I get a chance I'm goon. This freak thinks he's a some sort of hollywood creature feature. As far as the dress goes I didn't have much choice." She finishes her drink in one gulp as the bar tender says "Well, that freak isn't the only creep who's sight you need to evade before getting gone, Steven Johnson is lurking around here tonight." Colera smiles a crooked sub-smile as she responds "Great, that creep is really just the person I need to see now." She sighs and thinks for a moment before continuing "Wait a minuet, that creep really is just the sort I could stand to see right now." She smiles at the bar tender "Thanx James, Steven's natural controlling aggressiveness with his tendency to try to kill anything that gets in his way might just work to my advantage. I think I'll just sit here until he spots me."