angelic_gabe (angelic_gabe) wrote in shadowlands_ic, @ 2017-10-05 22:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | gabriel allen, severina kalderash |
Who: Gabriel and Severina
What: A meeting about the Whitechapel business
Where: Severina's lair home
When: 28 September, 1888 [Backdated]
Ratings: PG
In light of the recent waves of murder in Whitechapel, Gabriel was making the rounds.
He checked on his network more often than usual, and was extending his usual web one strand at a time, a painstaking process for a group of people whose lives were so fragile and transitory to begin with, who were so slow to trust. In addition, he was turning to his stalwart and begging a favor or two. And then, there were the less traditional paths one must tread when faced with danger.
Severina was an unusual acquaintance -- while they occasionally ran across one another at parties, and Gabriel politely maintained the fiction that she belonged there, she and Chiara had a tenuous stalemate -- a delicate carving out of territories and arenas where they could hoard power and not compete overtly -- and he was Chiara’s ally, and didn’t wish to muddy the waters, as it were.
But Severina dealt in bodies, and Gabriel wanted to hedge his bets, which brought him to her late one evening with a gift and a request for a favor, knowing she’d treat anything coming from him with suspicion.
He figured it was fitting he came at night -- they were both creatures who moved quite well under cover of darkness, and a lack of sunlight hid a multitude of sins.
He knocked on her door.
Early evenings were always best to find Lady Kalderash at her private residence. There was a measure of irony to how vampires on the higher rungs of society, needed to survive by indulging in what amounted to regular bouts of hunting and farming, alike. Especially those like Severina, who preferred to entrance a number of prospective meals and leave them none the wiser, rather than outright murder, if only to better avoid potential discovery.
Lately, however, there was a better chance of finding her at home during even later hours. The winged girl was doing such wonderful work, tending to Severina's garden of flesh... And she did like to admire it so.
The only real problem was in the increasingly elaborate measures needing to be taken to mask the stench. Still, for now, it was her little wonder to behold.
Upon hearing the familiar noise of metal knocker against wooden door, the vampiress turned and provided her own sound of shoes walking swiftly over floor. A familiar combination of red curls and impish smile greeting the man, with an infectiously devilish light sparkling in her eyes.
"You catch me just as I was readying to leave," greeted Severina. Her Eastern European accent as noticeable as ever. Something which would likely never leave her, no matter how long the vampiress decided to stay in London society. "Please, come in."
“Severina,” Gabriel replied with a friendly grin and a bit of a wink, before leaning over to kiss her cool cheek politely. “I do hope I’m not keeping you, my dear. I shan’t be too terribly long. How have you been keeping yourself, then?”
Vampires were a consistent lot, in a way Gabriel found nearly comforting -- unchanged in their appearance, often quite steady in their habits, and Severina, while a slippery, sneaky sort, was consistently so, which he could appreciate.
"Discreetly... Passionately," smiled the vampiress, returning the gesture more warmly than one might expect for the undead. Severina had her moments where she could turn cold, but he had not yet been party to them.
With a swish of regal dress, the redhead closed the door behind him. An act which perhaps might be more final, were he warm-blooded, as it were.
"And you do not give an impression of tiredness, Gabriel... I must assume your last companion met with every expectation. What could I possibly do for one so radiant, this night?"
“You flatter, darling, and yes, I am rather in clover, thank you,” Gabriel replied with a grin, biting his lip a little to redden it (he knew how to flirt with a vampire, thank you), before passing her a slim leather volume. “A diary I managed to stumble across -- it has some history in it I think you’d find interesting.” He knew Severina was hungry for knowledge as a pathway to power -- she did associate with the Institute, after all -- so he figured an account of a French vampire hunter would intrigue his acquaintance.
“I came to ask a favor,” he added smoothly, as though it weren’t obvious already.
Hands slid across the tome with fascination. Severina's attention whipped to it, like a hawk sighting rabbit and she flipped through the pages with intrigue. As materialistic as she could give an impression of being, there was a genuine interest in how her kind came into being. One didn't have to be a scholar to have a desire to seek out knowledge and this was Severina's. A handful of words in French were understood, the basics; enough to get a basic gist of what had been offered. She would have to procure a guaranteed translation.
"Yesss... Yes, a most thoughtful gift. I must have it studied, thank you, kind Sir."
Perhaps, if she somehow one day discovered the answers, they might underwhelm or displease her. It was a prospect the vampiress had considered. But she would rather know than forever have it continue to exist as yet another mystery.
The pages snapped shut and Lady Kalderash returned her attention like a smiling cobra.
"By all means, my friend. What vexes you?"
“This Whitechapel business,” Gabriel replied, as he sat with a sigh. “It’s bad for my line of work and, while there’ve been two bodies found in plain view, I want to know if there’s anything more to it. You stumble across any more stabbings than usual? Women in particular?”
"Killings change, like the seasons. Not unusually so, no... None unknown to the papers. But I understand there are more to these than the simple use of a blade. I suppose they would make me run cold, were I still mortal."
Severina hummed in consideration before she had spoken, fingers to chin. It was an interesting development, to be asked such matters. The vampiress supposed she now counted as a legitimate source of investigation, all things considered.
"I suspect," she began, mirroring the act of sitting, "there may be..." And she waved one hand at the wrist, fishing for the correct English terminology. "Dark circles, eh... What is the word... Occult, yes? I do not think these murders without purpose. One does not practice these skills for fun. It takes time... Preparation. They have meaning. In your time, Gabriel, you must have known those who work the dark arts. If I am right, could they find an answer in the dates? Special days and nights when bloody sacrifice would be rewarded?"
Gabriel leaned forward, tapping at the armrest of his chair, his eyes narrowing in interest.
“I must admit,” he replied, “I’ve thought similarly, yes. I’ve got a witch looking into some aspects, but I hadn’t thought the dates could be telling.” He frowned. “One was close to the full moon, but not the other one -- then there’s the solar calendar to take into account as well. And then there’s the notion of what the reward would be,” he mused. “No doubt it’s something frightfully predictable, like gaining power of some sort, but to what end?”
He sighed.
“Regardless, it’s a pickle, and any scraps you might pick up would be greatly appreciated.”
"This exactly," the redhead returned. Smiling wider in the acknowledgement of being on the same mental page. She was no expert, but knew enough to understand there were all manner of potential variables. - and, in some cases, some which overlapped, only able to be fully understood when examining the problem from a particular unique angle. Like playing metaphysical chess.
"But not only to seek empowerment for themselves... Perhaps they also wish to empower another, instead. A person, a thing. A possibility, yes?"
A tilt of head, almost bird-like. Not, though, something learned from her winged gardener.
"What would you do with knowledge of more bodies? I cannot say I will find anything, but... If you discovered the answer, what then?"
Gabriel felt a small chill run through him at her mentioning of the possibilities spread out before them. “You’re right that it could be far larger than simple personal gain,” he said, quietly. “What that could be I’ve no idea, and I’m very nearly loathe to try and find out.”
Her question gave him a bit of a pause, and he sighed, leaning back in his chair and looking over at her.
“I’d tell people who may be able to do something about it,” he said, after a few beats. “People who may be more interested in stopping the power gained, or keeping it out of the headlines than stopping the bodies from piling up, but if it accomplishes both, I’ll be happy about it.” He shrugged. “I do have some favors to call in. And short of that…” he frowned. “I’d do what I could to keep my people out of harm’s way, and if came down to it, would try to stop it myself.”
He grinned -- a smile without any humor behind it. “I’d really rather it not come to that,” he said, “but if whoever it is keeps this up, and I’ve no reason to believe otherwise, it will impact me and mine, which makes it my problem.”
"Oh."
One couldn't escape the feeling of it being a disappointed variety of 'oh'. Severina glancing down at her hands for a moment, twisting her mouth from one side to the other in reflective consternation.
"I did not think your kind desired... Preservation," the vampiress observed, looking back up with a puzzled frown. "I thought... Perhaps you would try to harness these efforts for yourself. Well, let it not be said you rarely surprise, hmm?"
She was a blood-thirsty nocturnal predator, after all. It seemed strange to her for one not human to be invested in saving lives, rather than taking advantage however he could. Ah, well! And she quickly shrugged, deciding to place her new gift on the table for later. Her smile returning in all its friendly - and otherwise - demeanour.
"Perhaps it is all simply some creature’s idea of a romantic gesture, like a cat who fetches rats for its owner. I think some mysteries will forever remain absurd, such is their nature."
Gabriel’s smile was a swift one. “We prefer far more pleasant ways of gaining power,” he said. “Ways that require a regular pool of living, willing partners. Don’t worry, it’s decidedly selfish, to be sure -- fear is bad for business, and if those who sell sex for a living are the target, well, that means me and mine are squarely in the crosshairs -- or if we aren’t, we soon will be -- and I don’t like the thought of being hunted, thank you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you, my dear? Are your motives decidedly mercenary, or would you be willing to pass along what those delightful ears pick up, even if it’s for the rather boring motive of putting a stop to things?”
For a fleeting moment, this direction of thought made Severina wonder how she might react, were there to be a link to the consuming of blood. Such like her conversational partner, it was not something she could simply choose to avoid doing. It was mortals who decided to hunt down her kind and she could only use discretion as a way to best elide their detection.
But what of a supernatural foe? Perhaps something which could simply move through walls, as if they were air? Unlife would become most difficult. Severina supposed she would have to at least temporarily remove herself from London. Would it be worth learning French to dine on Parisian cuisine?
"You are asking me if I would prefer a puzzle to remain locked… I think you know my answer to this," she smiled, tapping sharp fingernails to the journal now in her possession. "But I will say this: Human monsters are rarely born to their fates, like us. They must nurture their talents... Tease their satisfactions. You should ask if animals have disappeared. Cats, dogs, you understand? Perhaps a year or more before. If these numbers were high, perhaps this will give you somewhere to concentrate your efforts? The one who has done these things, they may still live there. They are like the wolf who lives among sheep. Their den will not be too far."
Gabriel nodded. Her instincts were usually as sharp as her teeth, which is to say, considerable; that, and he figured, if one wanted to seek out a killer… well. Severina would certainly know.
“And you think it’s human?” He added. “I’d concur, but still, I’m interested in your assessment.”
"Without a scent, I can say nothing with certainty," she declared in honesty. "Not gender, not age and not number. But they do not kill for hunger nor to turn their victims. But there is intelligence. Purpose... This is no simple animal and nor is it madness. And, my friend, I would not be surprised if one discovered this work has been at play for longer than the papers know."
A pause and she renewed her smile, rising back to feet.
"But what would I know? A humble, wealthy traveller from the continent... I suppose I should now fly on the wings of a bat, while you crawl from your grave, hungry for nuns who have forsaken their vows and pleasure themselves in loneliness! Oh, what a wicked world this is...!"
Pretending to swoon, Severina snapped closed the hand she had touched to brow. The curve of her lips now betraying a hint of fangs, giggling darkly.
"Do not worry yourself, Gabriel. It is we who this killer should fear. They make a mess of it louder than our kind, this is all. I will ask your questions for you... Go, tend to your lovers. To be with them is the best protection you can give, hmm?"
He laughed, and stood to meet her, taking a cool, slim hand in his and raising it to his lips for a kiss.
“Always a joy, my dear,” he said. “I shall tend them most dutifully, and your advice is quite useful, as is any other tidbits that should float your way. And if I’m in need of a particularly skilled nose in future, I may seek you out once more,” he continued, grinning, “with a significant amount of gratitude for services provided,” he added, tipping his neck cheekily in a playful suggestion of what such gratitude might entail.