Long Live the King

[Archon Hamilton]

Archon watched as the last sniper fell in what seemed to be a blink of the eye, but alas Kindred did not blink so he fell to his death in an instant. Archon hoped off the car and ran to Mirella, and by ran he walked as quickly as dignity would allow, and examined her arm. He gave her a caring look, one the said he was glad her injury was not severe, a look that only his Sire had ever seen from him. Then they were joined by keira whom Mirella waved away.

Archon listened for any more thugs to show up but noticed none and then turned his attention towards the house and Keira's inquiry. "Yes I am fine, thank you for your concern. Now if we are ready we should press on." With that he took a step toward the house and then went to his car and opened up the trunk. From it he withdrew a long sword, a gift from his departed Sire. He held it in one hand and then attached it to his belt. He then he reloaded his gun.

"Ok, now I suggest we move on." Archon said as he kicked open the former Princes front door with his gun at the ready for whatever may be lurking within. He took a few steps in to allow for Mirella and Keira to step in as well and wished that he had heightened senses like those with the Discipline Auspex could often achieve.

[Keira Kelly]

Keira hadn't fired her pistol but she handed one of the couple extra clips she carried to Mirella who had. The elder Toreador nodded in thanks as she reloaded her weapon. Keira was a bit surprised to see her grandsire not only holding a weapon but somewhat proficient in it. She had also caught the look of concern on Prince Hamilton's face for Mirella. She wondered again at what their relationship was or had been. She wasn't so gauche as to ask outright though.

She watched as Archon kicked the double doors open, and slowly followed him inside with her gun at ready in front of her, aiming to the left of the Prince. Mirella, on her right did likewise, covering the right side of the hallway but everything seemed quiet.. too quiet. All the lights were off and there was not a hint of movement. Keira extended her hearing, listening for any sounds that might expose a potential ambush but she couldn't detect any.

She whispered to Archon. "Up the stairs there, that door leads to Winters' office. There'll be a basement around somewhere, probably an entrance in one of the rear rooms of the house... I don't hear anything around here though." she informed him.

[Archon Hamilton]

Archon looked around inside noticing nothing, the place was dark, and it was all to quiet. Not Kindred was stirring not even a Ghoul. The Prince listened as Keira told him where the Princes office was. And where a basement could be. He straightened his suit and thought to himself you can look good even if your killing, killing with style he thought. Hmm, how very Toreador that line of thought was. He could not help but laugh softly to himself. He turned his head to look at the two women behind him.

"Mirella, I would like you to check this main floor, Be very careful and keep your ears sharp, your gun loaded. Keira I would like you to locate this basement and explore there, I shall go upstairs and clear up there. As large as this place is, if you require assistance just yell, the echo will be heard." He gave one final nod and waited just a few seconds to see if there where any questions and then he slowly began making his way upstairs to the Princes Office checking any rooms along the way.

[Keira Kelly]

None of the rooms nearby contained anything of interest. Most seemed to have never been used despite having absolutely no dust or cobwebs. While neglected of use, the Prince had had enough servants of both Kindred and Kine variety who kept the place immaculate.

The upstairs was all dark, the silhouettes of sconces lining the hallway walls. The doors lining the wood-floored hallway were all closed. Right near the top of the stairway up there was a large double door. The doors Keira had pointed out as being the Prince's office. In the past there had been guards flanking the doorway but now the whole hallway was vacant.

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Mirella nodded to Archon and proceeded off into the door adjacent to where they were standing. Turning the handle, she entered the room and found it to be some kind of ballroom or something. Even through the darkness she could see expensive and rare paintings hanging on the walls in gilded frames. Moving into the next room she found it was some kind of dining room. Some might have wondered what a Kindred would need with a room such as this but it was undoubtedly for show for business meetings Ventrue were bound to have with Kine. Mirella had had enough experience over her long life to know the habits of many of her kind.

She continued on, finding only rooms one would expect to find, all of them dark and empty.

--------------

Keira travelled back in the house, finding a hallway which led to a fairly large kitchen. She noticed a couple of other doors leading from the kitchen. Opening the first one, she discovered it was a larder. Surprisingly well stocked. Keira supposed it was for Kine guests and employees. Closing the door again, she investigated the other door. Upon opening it, a dark staircase leading down lay before her.

She made her way down slowly, feeling for each step on her way down. Getting to the bottom, she could see a glow coming from ahead. She followed the source of the light and thought she heard movement in the darkness. Something brushed her face and she swatted at it to find it was a string hanging from the ceiling. Grabbing it, she pulled it and the basement was filled with light. She could see the glow she had seen was from an older furnace.

Hearing a sound behind her, she turned quickly with her gun out, preparing for another attack but what she saw shocked her.

The basement seemed to be a very large open area, all concrete with pillars supporting the upstairs house. Positioned around the floor were wooden tables with bodies shackled down.

"Oh.. bloody hell.." she murmured, looking around. There had to be twenty such tables around and only a couple were empty, waiting for a victim. Many of the bodies lying on the others weren't moving but Keira could not smell any stench of rot so she could only guess that they were Kindred. She could see wooden stakes sticking up from the chests of all.

One of the bodies nearby looked familiar and as she moved closer, she saw Aedan Travius, the Tremere friend she had not seen in a long time.
"Bloody, bloody, bloody hell...." she muttered as she untied him and gripped the stake, pulling with all her might to remove it from his ribcage. With a sucking sound it came loose but he remained unmoving. In torpor she realized, he needed blood. Probably a lot more than she could supply.

She yelled, hoping Archon and Mirella would hear her. "I need help here! Kitchen!"

As she did so, her gaze focused on another figure on a table. "No.... Cy...." she cried, running over to his side. She likewise untied him and removed the stake but he also seemed to be in a torpor. "Cy..." she said again, putting a hand to his face. Crimson tears ran down her own. At least she knew he wasn't dead... As she waiting for the others, she bit into her own wrist, letting blood flow from it into his mouth.

[Archon Hamilton]

Archon went up the stairways slowly, and down the dark hallway thinking to himself, why in the bloody hell had he not acquired Auspex in the two plus centuries he had been alive. Having the ability to augment his sight right now would be ideal. Carefully he crept, opening doors along the way, looking around in them. What seemed like hours of searching was in actuality less than a minute, it just felt like an eternity cause he was so meticulous.

Archon made his way to the large double doors, slowly. He could not help but think that behind these doors was going to be Winters. He reached his hand out to open the door and just mere centimeters from the handle he heard Keira scream. Cursing his luck his he undid his long sword and slid it between the handles of the door and used his suit coat to tie it, effectively preventing anything from getting out easily.

With that Archon turned around and bolted down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him. Not wanting to lose what could be precious time on the stairs Archon launched himself over railing, landing on his feet, and then stumbling to the floor. He quickly got back up, grateful that no one saw that and headed toward the kitchen. He practically ran down the stairs nearly falling down them in his haste.

Archon was in no way prepared for what he saw in Winters basement. About seventeen Kindred were staked like overgrown slabs of meet. His mouth hung open for a fraction of a second and he snapped it shut with an audible smack. Seeing Keira weeping over some Kindred. He made his way over to her.

"This is a nightmare. What an atrocity. Your weeping, who is this Kindred? Is he a broodmate?" Archon began walking around unstaking Kindred. "Are any of these Kindred with the Sabbat? Or are they all Camirilla?" Archon asked. He waited for the answer and then commenced with the necessary unstaking. Shaking his head he reached into his pocket and handed a number to Mirella.

"That is a number to my Special Unit driver Javier, tell him where we are, and to bring the VAN he will know what you mean. I have to check the Winters' office. I trust my gut, it says that he or something of import is in there. You two join me as soon as you can please. And Keira, on a positive note, he is in Torpor, which is far better news then having in met the Final Death." Archon placed an almost father like hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze before racing back off up the stairs and through the kitchen and up another flight of stairs and down the corridor.

He took a moment to compose himself, untie the door and re strap his long sword. With that opened the double doors wide with his Magnum.450 at the ready. His eyes darted to all over the room taking in as much as he could and then finally came to rest on Winters' chair. Archon was ready for anything.

[Keira Kelly]

Keira looked up as Archon came over to her. "This.. this is Cyrus." she answered him. "And yes, it is better knowing that he has not met his end..." she said while looking at Cy, stroking a hand over his still face.

She looked around, pulling her gaze away from the Malkavian. "From what I can tell, the ones I know here are all Camarilla..." she replied to his question, knowing the impact that that answer would cause. "I think I saw the Primogen Picerno over there." she said pointing. "Aedan over there, who is a friend, was.. is Camarilla as well..."

Her gaze returned to her lover as Cy started to move thanks to the bit of blood she had supplied. He definitely needed more but it had been enough to awaken him as Archon left.

Mirella moved off, pulling out a cell phone and dialing the number as the Prince had asked as Keira whispered to Cyrus. He held on to her supporting arm as a scared child might. Keira knew he had been through something like this in his long past, perhaps something worse. She understood his need for the comfort and wasn't going to leave his side.

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On the desk in front of Winters' chair lay a body. The body was well dressed in a business suit. There was a letter opener sticking up from the neck and the body and desk below were soaked in blood. The blood had not yet congealed and dripped into bloody pools on the floor. Of the former Prince, there was no sign. The office was just as dark as the hall had been, the only light coming from some half covered windows but the metallic smell of the blood in the room was almost overpowering.

[Archon Hamilton]

Archon moved cautiously over to where light switches would normally be and flipped the switch. Giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden light, he made his way over to the body on the desk to see who it was ans see if there was any letters or cell phone texts on his person that could shine some light as to what happened. Archon kept his Magnum raised incase he needed it quick, fast, and in a hurry.

[Keira Kelly]

The body's cell phone text message history displayed numerous texts which seemed to all come from the same number, listed as 'Winters'. Most of the messages contained orders of some kind or other, most of them mundane tasks. This body likely had belonged to a servant or perhaps ghoul of the former Prince. There was only one message on the phone that differed from the rest, one that was not from the Prince.

The most recent message seemed to have only been received half an hour ago from an unlisted number. The message simply said "Coup. Leave now."

It appeared this Kine had been delivering the message to Winters when he had been cut down, but by Winters or another unknown assailant it wasn't clear.

[Archon Hamilton]

Archon felt the age surge within him, pulsing, aching, the Beast clawing its way to the surface. He put the phone in the inner pockets of his suite and then walked over to the door and closed it. He then locked it from the inside and rode the Beast, letting him rise and surface. In a very loud, inhuman manner he let out a primal scream of ferocity that would have made even a Brujah think twice.

Raging, stoking the inferno making a great and thunderous commotion Archon began tearing apart Winters' office. Ripping, smashing, biting, destroying anything that he could get his hands, feet, and fangs on. On and on he let his frenzy carry him until there was nothing left save the body to be ruined further. Archon leaped through the air and landed by the body.

Archon bit and tore at his face with his fangs, while his fists beat a violent and potent rhythm on his sternum. Which slow began to buckle bit by bit under the ferocity of such primal savagery. Once more Archon let out a savage, primal roar as the Beast contemplated residing once more in the otherwise infallible Ventrue Ancillae.

[Keira Kelly]

Keira sat with Cy, trying to calm him. She knew enough to know he had been tortured when he had still been mortal and from what she had gathered, the only thing that had saved him was being Embraced. Whether it was the torture, the Malkavian blood or both, the experience had left him fractured. She whispered to Cy, holding him close and telling him it was all right and he seemed to take comfort in her presence.

While this was going on, Mirella was walking around the tables, trying to identify the other victims. Hopefully the Prince's people would be here soon and be able to help the others including Aedan.

A roar of fury echoed through the house suddenly, causing them all to glance upwards. Mirella was the first to act, rushing upstairs at superhuman speed while Keira decided that it was best she remain with the others in the basement as none of them could protect themselves in their staked and/or torpor states.

As Mirella ascended the last step to the upstairs hallway with gun ready, she could hear a ruckus going on from inside Winters' office. She tried the handle of the door to find it locked and then pounded on it, trying to break it but the heavy wooden door would not give. She rammed the door with a shoulder with no effect. She didn't have the strength enough to tear the barrier down.

"Archon! Archon! What is going on?" she cried in her thick Italian accent, trying to yell over the sound emanating from the room.