Alain sat across from David Hardy, and both pairs of eyes were intense and anxious.
``David, tell me you have found something.''
Hardy nodded. ``I did not expect twelve hours ago that I would have anything of importance, but, yes, I think I have found quite a lot of relevant information.''
Alain leaned forward in her chair. ``Please, then, tell me, that we might find a way to deal with all that has been happening to us!''
Hardy said, ``I ask for a little more of your patience, Alain. I need you to tell me everything which you can recall which might be remotely relevant. If you can, pay particular attention to events concerning and including Lord Dalming.''
The elf was surprised. ``Of what concern is he to all of this, when he is but one of the most recent victims?''
``Not so recent as you think, Alain, and perhaps involved long before any of us.''
Alain nodded, recognising the fact that Father Hardy was still far more experienced in matters of the Occult and the Horrors of the Gaunt Man than she. ``Should you not then be speaking with Dame Anna? Certainly she would know more of such things.''
An undignified and tremendous yawn worked its way through the priest's body, and Alain noticed how red and swollen his eyes seemed to be. ``Alain, I have been up all night, and only in the few hours before you arrived did any conclusions become apparent to me. I departed Anna's company earlier in the day, before there was any sense to be made of recent events. Surely, I shall discuss the matter with her at length after she has gotten some rest for herself.''
Alain acknowledged, ``Of course, David. But what do I remember that might be relevant? Can you tell me what you know already?''
David picked up a book from an endtable near him, and laid it on Alain's lap.
Opening to the title page, she read aloud, ``Dracula, by Bram Stoker. David, what is it?''
``This is Core Earth fiction, a story written almost one hundred years ago, describing a group of humans who hunt down and destroy a vampyre--a very powerful vampyre.''
Alain asked, ``And this fiction is relevant to our reality?''
David said, ``Alain, a great deal of the story takes place in England, and specifically in London. One of the main characters in the story, one of the hunters, is named Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming.''
David waited for the look of utter astonishment to spread across Alain's face, then continued. ``Godalming's fiancé was a Miss Lucy Westenra, who was enslaved by the vampyre, and put to final rest by Godalming on they day they were to have been married. Only last night did I find out that Lord Dalming's departed wife was named Lucille--Lucy.
``Furthermore, Lucille Dalming was killed by some sort of unnatural wolf, huge, with glowing red eyes, and matted fur.''
Alain gasped. ``Gospog! Uthorion's gospog of the second planting are just that--large wolves with red eyes and gospog vegetable matter woven into their hides!''
Hardy took that in stride. ``Just so--In the book, Lucy died after a wolf, named Berserker, broke into her house, allowing the vampyre entry. Lucille Dalming was killed by berserker wolf-gospogs that broke into her house.''
Alain seemed to be remembering something. ``What is it, Alain?''
``Brenden noticed in the Sunday herald--I mean, the newspaper--that a wolf had escaped from a zoo in London, and killed several people.''
David asked, ``From where did it break free?''
``It was called the Regents Park Zoo,'' recalled Alain.
``Ah. The fictitious Berserker was released from the Regents Park Zoological Gardens, here in London.''
The two figures pondered this set of parallel episodes for several minutes, until David rose, and said, ``Alain, get everyone here as soon as possible. We must have all of our information together, as soon as possible!''
``Whether by our own fault, or due to the machinations of our as yet unknown enemy, we have been effectively prevented thusfar from collecting our individual information into a useful, cohesive whole,'' announced Father Hardy before the assembled Storm Knights, ``and it is that fact that has lead to the brunt of the grief we have born recently. Only by knowing a foe such as this can we hope to defeat him.''
David explained to them the parallels he had discovered in the torments they had suffered with Stoker's novel.
``So, we must now complete the picture which has begun to form before us.''
Brenden began. ``Well, Father, what I really know about Arthur is what he told me at Mountbatten's. He just came back to England to rebuild an estate.''
Hardy prompted, ``And before that?''
``Well, his family was originally from near London.''
``Do you remember where?'' asked David.
Brenden shook his head, but Anna volunteered, ``I recall. He said it at Lord Mountbatten's. His family's estate was called Ringwood, and it was near London. Purfleet, I believe.''
Father Hardy replied, ``Another piece in place. Stoker's character Arthur Holmwood lived in an estate called 'Ring'. The story began with Dracula, a foreign nobleman, attempting to buy an estate in Purfleet. The estate's name was Carfax.
``Where is this new estate of Lord Dalming's?''
Again, Anna answered. ``In York, in North Riding. Does that translate to the book?''
David said, ``I believe so. One of the principal locations in Dracula is a town in North Riding, York, along the River Esk.''
``Whitby,'' said Brenden. ``That was the town.''
``Indeed,'' agreed the priest.
Alain offered more information. ``Before we were attacked at lunch on Sunday, Dalming was talking about the relationship between the Ayslish government, and the English government.''
John Kickingbird finished the thought. ``Right! He mentioned a shipwreck near his estate some two months ago.''
Again, Hardy demonstrated relevance with the book. ``The vampyre Dracula arrived in England via a ship which came, unmanned, ashore near Whitby harbour. It was called the Demeter.''
Brenden yelled out, ``Alright, enough! We can see what you're getting at, Father, but does it give us a clue to the future? All we know is that somebody is toying with us!''
Shadoe said, ``We are dealing with a vampyre. This vampyre is, as Brenden says, toying with us. There is only one such creature of which I know that would bother to single us out for these mind games.''
Brenden said, ``Yeah, since we toasted Kerim Bey, the only other vampyre we've run across.''
Several voices answered at once. ``Victor Manwaring.''
Brenden stood up, and took charge. ``Okay, we need to get some hard info here. We need to look into this shipwreck, into Lord Dalming, into Whitby, and anything else we can think of.''
Alice offered one piece of information into the discussion. ``Just so you are all as aware of this fact as I am, the full moon cycle begins this coming Monday night.''
In twenty minutes, Hardy's flat was empty, and the group split up to go find out what they might.
An exhausted group reassembled at Father Hardy's flat that evening. David had had the foresight to make sure a large meal was waiting for them. He pondered briefly what kind of business 'Chinese Take-Out' would be in Majestic, or in Victoria.
Brenden packed away a carton of Kung Pao Sung Ding, and recounted his afternoon looking into the shipwreck Lord Dalming had described.
``Alright, here's the scoop on the wreck. No big surprise, the ship was named Demeter, and it wrecked just north of the town of Whitby.
``She was a three-masted cargo ship, and she used to be named Loxley. The ship ran semi-legal supplies between low-tech cosms, like Orrorsh, Aysle, and even some to the Nile Empire. She started running, out of Aysle, seven months after the Invasion.
``The Loxley was in Singapore, after a run to Australia and Majestic, getting ready to return to England. Somewhere along there, she changed ownership, and was renamed Demeter. Demeter set sail from Singapore on Friday the thirteenth of March, this year, and wrecked on May seventeenth--in Robin Hood's Bay, near Whitby.''
Anna recognised the Loxley/Robin Hood connection, and said, ``Great; we're dealing with a vampyre with a sick sense of humour.''
David was writing down all the information as it was related. as he had spent the afternoon composing a record of all that they had already known then. ``Shadoe,'' he said, ``you investigated Lord Dalming, correct?''
``Hai. I did, and I do not like what I found.''
Anna looked pale. Shadoe continued, ``Lord Dalming is the registered owner of Carfax manour, in North Riding, York. There is a record of death for Mrs. Lucille Weston Dalming, dated May twenty-third, and registered with the Whitby morgue.''
Bubba said, ``Hey! Six days!''
Everyone turned to look at Bubba, who was busily contemplating his counting digits--his fingers.
Valentine said, ``Bubba?''
The giant counted the last finger, and nodded enthusiastically with a stupid grin on his face. ``Anna and David told about Arthur's wife. It was six days!''
Anna said, ``Of course--he said she died six days after they moved into the estate.''
And Brenden noted, ``Right. And six days before her death was May seventeenth, when the Demeter wrecked.''
Brenden sighed, and said, ``Anna, I think your boyfriend is in a lot of trouble.''
Anna felt sick.
Alain said, ``Unless he's...'' but never finished the thought. Brenden picked up on the idea, though, and felt ill himself at the ramifications.
Hardy prompted further. ``What else, Shadoe?''
``That is what I found. There were no records of birth or family for Lord Dalming, but the bureaucrat with whom I spoke believed it very likely those records were kept at home, and are now either with the family, or destroyed with the house. Alain may know more--she helped me.''
``Alain?''
The elf nodded. ``Yes. I visited Purfleet. There are many vagrants living in the ruins of several manour houses there. I talked to many of them, and several thought that `Ringwood' sounded familiar, but none were certain of it. Certainly, there were many razed buildings, however.''
Valentine said, ``I found something!''
All eyes turned towards the spikes of pink hair. ``Really I did!''
Hardy asked generously, ``And what might that be?''
She held up a copy of one of Britain's less reputable tabloid newspapers. ``I swiped this from the library. It has a really cool article in it.''
And she began to read, with all the dramatic flair due such a journalistic achievement. However, it was likely that she had found something.
The article claimed that the town of Whitby, with which there had been no communication for several weeks, had been overrun by the walking dead, because it was once the sight of one of Uthorion's gospog fields.
``Well, isn't that just perfect,'' commented Anna.
``Anything else?'' asked David.
There was no answer, so Brenden offered, ``I stopped by to see Major Keeler today. I told him about most of what's been going on, that we might have to deal with it, and that we would need equipment. He is taking care of that for us now.
``Personally, I think it looks like we need to go to Whitby.''
There was agreement on that point. Shadoe volunteered to round up horses and any other equipment they might need, in addition to what the Major could get them.
The group then concentrated on finishing dinner. Alain approached Brenden, and said, ``I think we need to go see Lord Dalming tomorrow.''
They then presented their intention to Anna, and asked if she wanted to accompany them, which she did. Brenden said, ``Good, then we'll do that tomorrow morning.''