Aidan on 13/9/2008 at 16:18

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I actually started this story before Bloodline, last year in fact. The story is set fifty years or so before the Dark Project; way before Garrett, Benny and any other cool character you know and love. More chapters will come as I edit them and finish them off.

Children Of Darkness©
Crimson Tide

A story by Aidan, AKA the Anti-Valentine.

[EMAIL="antivalentine@webmail.co.za]antivalentine@webmail.co.za[/EMAIL]
Visit my blog @ (http://hubpages.com/_3tzb0unem02ru/profile/Anti-Valentine) http://hubpages.com/_3tzb0unem02ru/profile/Anti-Valentine


Prologue

The City is always in constant turmoil. As much as the Hammerites or the Baron and his City council like to think they have control and that order prevails, the reality is contrary to their beliefs. It has always been politics versus religion, and it always will be. The war on crime sometimes isn’t as reliable as the civil wars between the Order of the Hammer and the City Guard. Even though the Hammerites do what they are supposed to, and go beyond the call of duty, the people don’t like their fanaticism and zealousness. Society doesn’t like to be deprived of its rights or freedom. And then some commend the City Guard when clearly they don’t do their job as devotedly as they should.
There are so many different and largely opposing factions, groups, and guilds, and rightly so, the city is rich in diverse cultures and everybody is entitled to have their say. Unfortunately, not everybody appreciates those differences, and that is why the true ruler is no heir, but chaos.


Chapter I

The harsh bitter cold could rip through a person like a blade fashioned like an icicle. It was particularly frigid down by the docks, the jetty decorated with frost. But that was not the only feeling of coldness in the air. By the tavern near the water, two shadowy figures were mercilessly dragging another on the wooden deck. Pleads and sobs were ignored as the death blow was finally dealt. Then, silence. The body was flung over the one figure’s shoulder and carried over to the edge. A loud splash as the person was tossed into the sea, and the episode was over. The two hurried off and disappeared in to the night. The town barely stirred as it wrapped its dark blanket around itself, continuing its rest until dawn.

* * *

It was a typically miserable winter’s night. A thunderstorm overhead echoed across the City, so loud it disrupted thought. Anyone with good sense would be indoors and probably in bed; after all, Aidan was counting on it. He, like any other of his profession wouldn’t let a bit of bad weather stop him; in fact, it was only to his benefit.
Aidan was crouched beneath a window sill, looking inside the manor he was about to visit. The coast was clear, and so he waited. An ear-shatteringly loud rumble followed, and Aidan smashed the window with his elbow. Aidan had always loved thunderstorms, and now, even more. He waited, perhaps five minutes, to see if anyone at all had heard the window break, but he doubted it. It was just enough to put a small hole in it, so that he might put his hand through and open the latch, which he did so. He was in.

He quietly closed the window after he settled properly on the carpet. Aidan didn’t have the luxury of a fully drawn out map with him, but after a little snooping around, he had been able to draw parts of the place, especially the outside. He was in the east wing on the ground floor, and by the look of things, he was by the stairs.

He carefully surveyed the surroundings, and to the left, out the corner of his eye, a guard walked into the foyer, stumbling around.

“Drunk as a circus bear”, Aidan muttered under his breath.

The guard was too far away to worry about at that moment, so he started towards one of the doors along the hallway. He listened, then opened it gently, and peered inside, “Nobody in sight, time to get on with it”.

Aidan slipped in to the room, and closed the door afterwards. A quick glance and something immediately caught his eye. A silver goblet was perched on the writing desk by the wall; then, it was gone. Aidan opened his tailored loot-bag, and plopped the goblet inside.

Many thieves in the city had been caught because the spoils of their excursion were heard rattling around on their person. Aidan had taken great care to obtain a medium sized sack, and had lined it with silk and padded it with cotton, creating pockets, so that the loot wouldn’t tap around inside. The materials were free, and his handiwork paid off in the long haul.

Aidan exited the room as cautiously as he had entered and crept towards the next door, getting nearer the foyer. He opened it even more
warily, now that he was a little closer to the guard. Inside, there was only some paper on the table, and there didn’t seem to be anything of worth. So he retreated back in to the corridor. He entered the foyer. It was well designed; paneled oak walls, beautiful paintings hung above plush settees, and a colossal crystal chandelier hung above a lavish rug in the middle of the room. And Aidan had to be sure not to forget about the guard too. He knew that using his short sword or his dagger that was sheathed on the side of his boot would be too noisy an execution. Instead he opted for his blackjack.

Carefully he drew it from his side and sneaked up behind the oaf, stood up slowly; hoping the bones in his legs wouldn’t give him away, and came down hard with a mighty swing to the back of the head. There was the familiar enlivening glee, as the recipient crumpled in a heap on the parquet. Aidan grabbed hold of the body and dragged him off to the room he had just come from. The room wasn’t as empty as it had been before, although there was still nothing of worth in it, as far as he was concerned.

Through the double doors, it seemed like another dimension. Such opulence, brilliant hues strewn across the room, which looked like what Aidan would dare call a living room. It really did come alive; the animals mounted on the walls might have had something to do with that. Aidan felt a childlike spark as he mingled and danced among the shadows, a quick step to the right, to avoid the light from the fireplace; like stepping over moss in between the cobblestones, a great game that children would play. He spotted a couple of silver tumblers and a carafe set on the table in the middle of the chairs sorted in a circle like a meeting place.

“Would you like me to take your vessel Madame?” Aidan uttered amusedly.

That meant a few more things for the fence which fit snugly in to the pockets in his bag. Then suddenly, a guard passed by on the far side of the room, Aidan could see him through the arcade that led in to another hallway. He ducked behind one of the chairs, and started to make his way over to the bigger seat to the right nearer the other side of the room. Then to his distress, another guard approached from the other direction.

“Arrh, oh”, the one guard yawned, “I can’t wait until my shift is over.”

“It’s going to be a lot longer than you think taffer. Lady Tame is out for the night, remember?” The other guard replied irritably.

They stood there together for a while, but Aidan had to think of how he was going to get through and into the rest of the ground floor.

“I can’t stand these long shifts; can’t she…stay at home like everyone else?”

At this, Aidan started moving very carefully towards the wall to the left of their presence, blending in with the shadows.

“You know how she can’t be without some charming man beside her, she’s like mutton dressed up as lamb.”

Aidan sneaked across and in to the kitchen as the guard nearest him stretched out his arms, a perfect distraction for the one facing his direction.

“Ho Ho, you’re gonna get it soon, with talk like that. I wonder if I should get something to eat, maybe that would keep me awake?”

Aidan flinched and felt the blood being drained out of his face; he quickly looked for a place to hide.

“Don’t you dare! Remember last time when the Lady came home and found her sweet-meats were gone? Both of us nearly lost our jobs because of you!”

After that, there was a pause, and then they both resumed their patrols along the corridor. If he timed it rightly, Aidan could get out and between them and see what was further along. He listened to the footsteps, and judged, as he moved towards the door, if they were going to be going off in the opposite direction. He poked his head out slightly, and saw both of them retreat back along their routes. He crept out and turned in to the hall between the kitchen and what must have been the larder. He observed patiently, that beyond, there was the dining room, and chandeliers, candlesticks, and cutlery were abundant.

He made a move forwards, in to the square room, not very big, that led to the doors. The light that radiated from the room was immense, definitely requiring a plan of action. Aidan tried the doors; they were locked. He retraced his steps in to the shadows. “How am I going to get in without those two noticing?”

He did have water arrows but unfortunately, the light source was on the other side of the doors, which were locked. He didn’t have a gas arrow, the elemental crystals required to make them were very hard to come by. He had some broad heads; they would cause too much commotion.

“Ah! A noisemaker arrow!”

He took his bow in his left hand, and reached in to the quiver. A shaft, with a tin casing with holes in it was produced. Inside the casing were ball bearings that made whistling and rattling sounds until the arrow landed. He nocked the arrow and pulled back on the bow string. The arrow flew through the air, across the living room and in to the foyer.

“What the heck was that?”

“Hello? Who’s taffing about?” both guards said almost synchronously.

“Who is…whistling at this hour? Isn’t that against the law?” the one guard said, obviously very confused.

“Let’s go have a look; it might be the Lady home early. She might be at the front door.” The other guard reasoned.

Aidan used this time to get to the doors again. He took his lock picks, which were concealed on his left gauntlet, out and proceeded to pick the contraption. In the background he could hear the two buffoons making a scene, raising their voices and arguing. He had plenty of time. The tumblers were clicking, and then it finally unlocked. He opened the right door, and slipped inside. The first thing he had to do, was launch a water arrow in to the fireplace, which, even though warmed up the room splendidly on a harsh winter’s night, was going to cost him if he left it burning. A quick aim, and next thing, it was out, the light in the room was significantly reduced. He got on with taking the gold candle-holders, and the silver crockery, at least, the knives and forks. The bag was getting a little full, so Aidan placed the next layer of padding over the other goods, sort of like one of those chocolate boxes that the wealthy had, except these contents were a lot more ‘rich’. After he had pilfered most of the valuable items on the table, he noticed that in the corner to the right behind him, there was another of those spiral staircases leading up to the first floor.

“How convenient; at least now I don’t have to backtrack.” He whispered with a smirk.

At the foot of the staircase, Aidan felt apprehensive as he could hear talking coming from upstairs. He dared not trudge up there just yet unless he wanted to join in the conversation; it was doubtful that the guards would appreciate his company. He hid under the steps instead until someone finally got tired of chatting.

“For guards, they’re a bit too social.” Aidan commented to the darkness.

Footsteps went off in their separate ways, Aidan on the brink of frustration, but kept it well under control. He had to keep thinking about what treasures he might find upstairs. Slowly he ascended to the apex, being sure to keep to the sides of the walls before finally settling in to the dark. The room he was in seemed to be a bathroom, from what he could make out in the blackness. As his eyes began to adjust, he cautiously opened the door leading in to a study. In it, there was a set of drawers, and a writing desk, with a chink of light from the window, illuminating what was on it, a bag. Aidan took it, and felt it; no doubt it had coins in it. He slipped the string knot at the neck; there was easily a hundred pieces.

It was great when Aidan found gold, simply because it was finders, keepers. With goods, they had to be taken in to town, and traded with a willing, independent fence, and even then if the items were too hot, or if they simply didn’t like you, you lost out, and the haul would be for nothing. Since Aidan was alone, and didn’t belong to one of the wardens in the city, things were a little harder, but of course, any profits he made minus the commission, were his. The poor old boys who belonged to the stables or guilds, they got practically nothing, most of it went to the wardens, not to mention, they had restrictions on where they could go, and steal from too.

Aidan picked up a piece of parchment that was under the bag of coins, which he had taken the liberty of placing in his loot-bag. There were names listed, as well as amounts of gold pieces next to their names. All the names seemed to be male.

“Perhaps Lady Tame isn’t entirely lady like after all.” Aidan grinned.

It wasn’t uncommon for nobles and the rich to get involved in some lucrative if…illegal endeavors. Prostitution was rife in some areas, like the docks, but up in high class New Quarter, it was scandalous.

She at least had her standards; most of the names on the list had addresses, but he could hardly make most of the writing out. For a lady, her handwriting was atrocious. It was all very interesting and not to mention incriminating if it fell in to the wrong hands.

“That’s how she affords all of this; hmmm.”

Aidan put the parchment back on the table. He figured she would accuse one of the guards of stealing the gold, seeing as they got a pittance, unless she noticed that a lot of things were missing downstairs too. She would no doubt worry about who would have seen the parchment when taking the gold too. If word got out, she would probably be hauled off to jail and a fate worse than death, being cut out of the city’s upper crust.

After his intrigue had worn off, Aidan decided that he should start wrapping the heist up. As he emerged from the study and tip-toed across the hallway, he noticed that he was approaching a balcony overlooking the foyer. He would remember it in case of an emergency. He carried on until he reached a large, sturdy door. He guessed it would be the Lady’s private quarters. When he tried the handle, it moved but did not open. He reached for his lockpicks, and worked his charm. There were a couple of guards patrolling the area. They weren’t an immediate threat, but it made for some motivation.

“Finally,” Aidan grunted as the lock clicked, and he was able to move in to uncharted territory.

The room was shrouded in darkness; a window ahead only cast a faint glow through a thick curtain. If Aidan didn’t know any better, he’d have thought the Lady was in, but earlier the guards talked about her constant trips at night and that tonight she was out; whether they had an inkling of the truth behind the trips wasn’t clear.

Aidan had to somehow find his way around the place, so he made his way over to what he had made out to be a window. He slowly opened the curtain bit by bit, seemingly taking ages, but rather that than alert the guards. After all, they might notice a very sudden change in the amount of light seeping from under the door. Everything was a tad more visible, with a slight blue tint, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Then a most dreadful sight plagued his eyes! He had to hold his mouth, shocked and repulsed by the image. It was a…body, lying in the bed; the sheets ran red with blood! Aidan had no idea what the Lady looked like, but he guessed since he was standing in her bedroom, and the door had been locked, that it was her. Upon closer examination, he could make out it was a woman; pale skin, blonde locks, cold blue eyes. She had been cut from ear to ear, her head barely hanging by a thread, tilted back in to the pillow. Aidan didn’t understand; there was no way that they could have missed her if she came home early, there were guards downstairs and outside her quarters and study.

The thundering continued outside, as the clouds burst and rain fell, almost to mark the severity of the situation. The house was still and time had passed considerably since the beginning of his mission; Aidan had no idea when the lady was killed, or how long she’d been lying there. He noticed a book on the bedside stand, and proceeded to pick it up and open it. He figured it would be relevant if he started from the last page.

It read, “The last few weeks have been very profitable if not tiresome. I don’t know how much longer I can go on. I feel as though I’m not safe anymore. Oh, Harold! If only you were here, I wouldn’t be in the mess that I’m in. Please forgive me.”

From reading the entry, Aidan thought it looked as though she was depressed, maybe suicidal. Maybe she had done it to herself. There was no clear indication of what immense trouble she was in or why she wasn’t safe. He figured that ‘Harold’ must have been her husband, possibly deceased, and she meant that if he were here she wouldn’t have to resort to whoring to keep her possessions and lifestyle.

Aidan had sharp eyes, and he couldn’t see a knife or dagger on the bed or in her hands to suggest she killed herself. He checked on the floor, then from there began to comb the room; nothing.

“Perhaps someone else did this to her.” He said to himself, “How did that someone get in?”

He thought the obvious answer would be the windows, but they were sealed, probably for show just like everything else. They weren’t broken either, so nobody could have come through. As he placed the book which he had been cradling in his left arm back down beside the bed, it opened and revealed something. It was an outline of a square key, but the key was missing.

“A key; but which door does it open?”

There was definitely another door that the key would fit; it could have been somewhere else on the other side of the mansion for all he knew. He poked around the room for a start, figuring it would be on an unoccupied wall. He came to a tapestry on the wall; it was very beautiful and evocative; almost like a primitive type drawing. He figured it could be worth some and decided to take it. There was a keyhole behind it, with the key in it, and the wall section was hollow, maybe painted limestone, so it was easily movable. Aidan wedged his hand in the gap, and shunted it to one side.

Concealed within was a secret passageway, massed with cobwebs and damp. As he peeked inside, there was a stairwell at the end that led to the ground floor. As Aidan was about to walk on through, he thought about the parchment with the names on it, maybe one of her ‘clients’ could be the culprit. Several minutes ago it was worthless although interesting, now it was so important; it was so ironic. When the guards or servants found the body, they would no doubt get the city guard to investigate, and that piece of paper would be gone.

He went back to the door, and peeked through the key-hole. The coast looked clear, and thought that perhaps the shift was over. So he opened the door, and attempted to quickly go over to the study across the way. Just then a guard came around the corner, but it was too late to do anything. The light from the window gave him away.

“Hey! I see you there! Now you’re gonna get it!” he shouted.

Aidan got back through the door and slammed it, hitting the guard square in the face as he tried to pursue him. He dropped instantly, unconscious. Aidan thought about making a rush for the study, but then more guards could be heard on the upper level, searching.

“I see a body over there!” one yelled.

Aidan realized he had to move, there were too many in the entire manor to take on. He fled in to the passageway, took the key from the lock and sealed it behind him so the guards couldn’t follow. He locked it too for good measure and slipped the square stone key back in to his pocket. Then he walked along the way to the stairs and proceeded down. It seemed like a dead-end; and it was dank and dusty down there.

“What good is a secret passageway if there is no door on the other end?” Aidan said worriedly aloud, trying to compose himself.

He started frantically feeling along the wall, and came across another key-hole. He took out the stone key and put it in and turned. He pushed and gradually the night-sky could be seen, and the smell after a storm was all too welcome. After he exited, he pushed the wall back, and locked it from outside. He was out in the gardens, hidden from the light, near the front gates. Of course, there were guards gathering there, so he had to find another way out of the grounds. He slipped off quietly towards the far wall and saw quickly saw that there were no other exits. He looked around and noticed that underneath the roof exterior there were wooden beams protruding out, near enough the wall too. He reached in to his quiver, produced a rope arrow, and without slowing, he fired it in to the wood above. The grappling hook head wood ensure that it stuck firmly, as the quick release mechanism loosened like clockwork, and a rope sailed down towards the earth. He jumped on and began climbing up, as the guards started coming his way. He jumped and landed on the wall. He was too illuminated for the guards to miss.

“Hey, there he is! Come back down here you taffer!”

Aidan thought quickly and jumped off the other side of the wall, and executed a break-fall maneuver to reduce the impact that a drop of that size would have on a body. Tumbling onto the grass, he regained his upward stance and started sprinting along the cobblestone street, not even caring to look back.


* * *