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Forum Elite
Join Date: 1 Aug 2000
Location: -Elizabeth downs.South Aus
Posts: 1,939
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Thief episode 10
Garrett sat alone in a dark, unused ground-floor apartment scribbling down notes on to his pad. His face was expressionless, concentrating on the job at hand, while inside the young man was experiencing conflicts and emotions beyond anything he imagined could exist in the world. Even the fact that Garrett did not fin Darius's body with the others did little to encourage him. Half of the compound was sealed by cave-ins and debris, and that was probably where his body was. Even if he did get out alive, Garrett knew that the last thing Darius would do was come to him. He felt sadness at the death of Mephisto, and even all the other keepers. The sadness met with it's ally, fear, and both reminded Garrett that now he was truly alone.
Garrett blocked it all out, he had to to maintain his sanity. His eyes flicked back and forth from the City Guard headquarters he was keeping notes on and the notepad itself. His mind had drawn a simple conclusion after leaving the compound. If he was being targeted by the city watch, then a person in that building must have the connection, or at least a connection. For the last three days the thief had been sitting at the window, stopping only to eat or catch some rest. He had recorded the times people left, people arrived, what car was theirs, if they drove or walked for three solid days, and he felt and looked like he could keep at it for many more. He had just finished writing another piece of information down when he noticed somebody leaving a lot sooner than they should be.
His deadpan expression raised into a smile. He called this officer 'miss. red' because of the long mane of fiery red hair that came down from underneath her helmet. She was very punctual, always arriving on time, always leaving on time. Except tonight, it seemed. Her hand grasped a yellow envelope, and the fact that she was walking instead of using her green sports car was the final tip off. Garrett immediately hurried out of the room and down onto the street, following at a distance from the guardswoman. It helped that fog had rolled in a few hours beforehand, masking up the thief even more that his innate talent did, and he easily glided his way through dead streets and biting cold to keep up with her. After a fair walk, she strolled into a deserted plaza, rounded a lightpost, and continued out a different way into the streets. Before she became nothing but a silhouette, Garrett noticed that the envelope was no longer in her hand. He chuckled to himself for the first time in days. "I see, a convoy. I'd better check that letter out before the pickup is made" he told himself, tracing her steps to the lightpost so that he could see where she dropped it. It lay clumsily along the edge of the post, and Garrett picked it up carefully. His hands shook as he opened the envelope, half out of fear, half out of a determination to find out who killed the keepers and tried to keep him out of the way. Whoever it was was definately going to bleed. He read the note to himself:
V,
This will be my last letter to you for I fear that my secret life as a pagan sympathiser will soon be discovered. I have only a few things to tell you, and I hope that they help you and your people survive. Firstly, I have been snooping around Sherriff Truart's office, and have found evidence that your enemy knows where you are, and that you are all in great danger. I urge you to defend yourself with whatever you can, soon, for they will undoubtably attack very shortly. Secondly, I have found that your foe's gaze has fallen on another target. There was a letter in the waste-basket calling for the arrest or death of a man written only as "Garrett". considering the age of the letter, the sherriff would have sent men to perform this act by now. I have not seen a 'Garrett' in any of our prison rosters, so either he is dead or more threatening than the Sherriff thought. If he is still alive, he could be a potential ally to your cause. Good luck, my lady of nature.
Lt. Rodriguez
Garrett slid the letter back inside the envelpe, and dropped it back onto the base of the lightpost. His mind raced, things were getting hectic. Not only was the unknown party out to kill him, it was out to wipe out a second as well. Garrett was being drawn into a full-scale secret war between people he didn't even know yet. His brain built up a plan as he took a hiding place in the plaza, waiting for the pick-up.
/Okay, if this Lt. Rodriguez thinks that I could help somebody, then it is likely that they won't kill me. I'll follow the second delivery boy and find out exactly what is going on/ he thought, content now that he had some grip on normality. Ten minutes passed, and finally Garrett's ears caught the noise of scuffling feet on stone. A small, dirty man snuck nervously into the plaza, and anxiously took the letter. He was clad in a very plain-looking tunic, and his hair was greasy and unkept. He looked like a pagan.
The Pagans had been around for a while but had only sprung into the spotlight awhile ago. They were nature-lovers, shunning technology in favour of dank caves and wooden huts. In a lot of ways they reminded Garrett of human Woodsie. Of course, the shunning of technology made them a lot of enemies. Religious zealots would show no mercy if they found a pagan. The Pagans had been pushing their luck lately though, attacking Mechanist churches and stealing food and supplies. If the note was anything to go by, it seemed that their antics would soon catch up to them. Garrett followed the new messenger through The city, watching out for when he needed to hide further back, when it was safe to move. The Pagan was a lot more nervous than Lt. Rodriguez, and Garrett supposed he had good reason to be.
Garrett stopped to examine a street-sign, for the fog was getting much thicker and he needed bearings. He became a little puzzled when he found that he was on 'Peaceful Way'. It was the graveyard district, a dead end. However it was the way, that the dirty little man was going so there had to be more that met the eye down there. Garrett took his attention from the sign and realized that not even a silhouette remained of the Pagan, who had gone further on down the road. "damn it!" Garrett cursed to himself. He had lapsed in concentration and forgot that the fog would make it harder to see him when he was further away. Now he would have to search for the guy. He increased his speed to a cautious jog, keeping close to a stone graveyard wall as he looked around for any sign of movement. His body relaxed in a sigh as he saw the form of the man came back into view again, as he was about to get closer when he heard the small sound of a door opening. All of a sudden pandemonium struck, and he heard sharp voices cutting through the fog and night sky. Cries of "Halt, Pagan!" and "Crush the heretic" where punctuated with gunfire and a scream. Garrett pushed himself hard up against the wall, trying to blend in. He didn't even need to see the assailants to know who they are. Mechanists.
In a way, Garrett was there to wtiness the birth of the mechanists. When the Hammerites died out, there was a lot of distress in the city. Nobility got very nervous, they wanted to make sure all of their trinkets would await them in the afterlife and without the Hammers around to pay tithes too it might not happen. Of course, nobles were idiots, but that didn't stop a green-and-gold uniformed pheonix to rise from the ashes of a demented religion. They called themselves mechanists, and said that the way of craftmanship that the Hammerites followed would only have led the people into darkness. They followed a way of machinery, technology, robotics. They boasted of bringing The City into a new age, under the will of... Actually, Garrett couldn't remember the name of the leader. He didn't listen to much of the crap they spread, not many people did, but when their is a messiah, even a false one, people pray.
The Mechanists spoke up, talking to one another at the graveyard entrance. Voices rose through the air, big and boistrous, as if they were trying to make a show for all of the dead people residing in theri final resting places. "You let him get away" A young female voice cried. "No, just look." A male replied. "His putrid life bleeds out onto the ground. He will soon have few options. Go to his home and meet our fellow brothers, bleed to death, or come out here where we will be waiting to shatter his pathetic heart into pieces. He will die like the rest of them, don't worry!"
Garrett pieced the puzzle together in his head. The Mechanists had assaulted the Pagan base early, and ambushed their messenger. Obviously they botched the job and he got away.Garrett smiled, he finally had a trail of breadcrumbs. Noiselessly, he hoisted himself over the stone wall, and into the cemetary.He saw dark red spatters on the ground, and followed them to an open crypt door. He slipped inside and shut it, eager to be out of the fog and cold. Turning around, he froze in shock. His mouth opened slightly before closing in a grim expression. He realized why the Pagans had never been found before now.
Four crystals, the same crystals Garrett was using on his bolts, powered it. Its surface rippled, as if something was alive in it, trying to escape...
Garrett approached the portal to the Maw of Chaos, unhooking his mini-crossbow and making sure it was loaded. He didn't know how many Mechanists would be down there, and a silent takedown was always better. Unfortunately the paltry amount of knockout darts he had was the last of his supply, so he'd have to make them count.
/Or maybe i'll just get lucky.../ He thought to himself, before dismissing the notion. He took a deep breath, trying to again quell the feelings that were beginning to rise up again now that the Maw of Chaos had forced itself back into his memories after he tried to shut it out. He took another, his brow beginning to form beads of sweat. He really did not feel ready for this. Finally, he managed to calm himself down to an acceptable level. Grimly, he stared straight into the heart of darkness, and stepped through the portal.
__________________
She said "Do not hate humans, if you can not live with them then do at least do them no harm, for theirs is already a hard lot." She also said that she would love you for all of eternity.
-Alucard,the coolest vampire i've seen.
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