Chapter 12: - Amazing
Martin passed Arthur his duffel bag back as he climbed off the ladder, "Why's that so heavy anyway?" "Let's just say I'm preparing for the worst", Arthur replied. "Christ it stinks down here…"
"Hmm", Martin agreed. Arthur pulled a used gym t-shirt out of his duffel bag and started cutting it up with his knife, Martin just watched on in silence.
He created two triangles of cloth and passed one to Martin. "It might smell a bit to be fair but it's better than the shit".
They both wrapped the cloth around their face and tied it together at the back of her neck.
Arthur also pulled a torch out of his bag before zipping it up and slinging it back across his shoulder.
He turned the torch on and pointed it around the space they were in. It was different from the typical London sewer that had been built centuries prior by Bazalgette.
Grey, brick-built walkways lined with metal railings provided space for the pair to stand on. The waste water of countless houses and flats flowed next to them beyond the railings.
They would've been in pitch blackness if not for the sunlight shining through the manhole cover and the light coming from Arthur's torch.
The same bricks underfoot extended up the walls. The walkway extended into the inky blackness beyond visibility.
"Come on then…", Arthur spoke. They began to walk the only way the path would allow them, letting themselves be guided by the metal rail.
As they walked, they began to slightly open up to each other. Arthur learned that Martin had recently gotten married, and Martin learned how Arthur ended up as a hunter.
He thought along the same train as Rebecca originally guessed, that Arthur had suffered a hard upbringing that pushed him into such a dodgy job. Arthur reassured him that his upbringing was far from the reason he joined.
"I just don't understand why you would actually accept this job?" "I think I just thought I'd fucked my exams up and university wouldn't be an option. In my head it was one of those 'fate' things that I'd regret ignoring, you know? I also think I was a bit naive in how dangerous it would be… How'd you end up here anyway?"
Martin sighed before speaking, "I never knew my parents, pretty miserable journey through the foster care system" "Oh…" "Naturally I turned to the military when I left school with no qualifications…"
"I guess I impressed the right people and was shortlisted for becoming a hunter. They promise you a lot when you first sign up, but it all fizzles out before long. Any 'engaging' work gets taken by the big shots, along with all the opportunities. And they never really tell you what's really going on…"
"That's why everyone's pissed at you, you've barely been here a month and you're being given everything under the sun. You're not as bad as I first thought though…"
"Much appreciated…" Arthur replied sarcastically, but was relieved at the fact he was starting to have a better time with his coworker.
They carried on following the brick walkway for a good fifteen minutes, before they came to a door set in the wall.
It wouldn't look out of place on a submarine, with a normal handle being replaced with a wheel.
It looked like a classic metal airlock door. Arthur laughed softly as he read a faint carving on the door, "Ha, for each a road…"
"Fuck off does it say that!" Martin couldn't believe Arthur had actually been onto something. "It seems a bit daft though doesn't it? They've practically left a paper trail right to themselves".
"We haven't got anywhere yet", Arthur grunted as he tucked the torch under his armpit and tried with all his might to turn the wheel.
After thirty seconds of struggling he eventually got it to loosen and began to turn it all the way.
He pulled the door open revealing more inky blackness. Arthur grabbed hold of the torch again and started to walk forward, Martin naturally followed.
The new place they found themselves in appeared less modern than the sewer, ancient in fact. It resembled more of a catacomb. The new, grey bricks lining the walls had been usurped by unimaginably old, browning and rotting bricks.
"How old do you reckon this place is?" "Dunno…"
The feeling of being in a catacomb only amplified when they started to find heaps of bones and strewn skeletons lining the floor. Since the door there had only been one straight tunnel for them to follow.
"I'm not getting a great feeling right now…", Martin said. "Me neither", Arthur agreed.
They carried on for another minute or two before Arthur halted in his tracks, "Is that… a coffin?", he asked.
"Shit" Martin professed.
"I think we've found our vampire…" Martin laid his own bag on the floor, before pulling out a spike with a handle, and a mallet.
"I thought vampires didn't do any of this stereotypical stuff?" Arthur questioned.
"The younger and weaker ones don't. In some of the older bloodlines and the count families its a bit of a tradition"
Arthur realised they were going to be dealing with a stronger vampire, "I'm guessing that's what the stake is for?"
"Yep, only way to kill the stronger ones. Sometimes vampires can be too strong to even be killed by a stake, depending on how old they are or what bloodline they have", Martin spoke as he tried to prise the lid off with the little stake.
"I wish the department told me more of this stuff, stop trying that anyway I've got a better tool…"
Arthur brandished a crowbar from his bag with a gleaming smile on his face. "What the fuck have you got a crowbar for?" Martin laughed.
"Never know when you might need one, besides they're cool".
Arthur was trying to act relaxed but was inevitably tensing up about dealing with a stronger enemy.
He slid the prying end underneath the lid, before applying pressure to lever it open. The lid popped off without much resistance, the rotting wood around the bolts didn't provide much security.
The coffin's exterior was dirty and unassuming, but the interior was lush and clean.
Red, luxurious padding lined the bottom and sides, supporting a sleeping beauty. Laid in the coffin fast asleep was a red-haired woman, wearing a white gown that hugged her figure well.
The coffin was propped up against the wall, meaning the woman was already face to face with the pair.
Her eyelids shot open as her red lips contorted into a predatory smile, "Well don't you two boys just look delicious…"
She seemingly didn't notice Martin standing with the stake as she raised her palm to her mouth, before blowing something into Arthur's face.
"Arghh!", he stumbled backwards coughing and spluttering. Before she could do anything else, Martin shoved the stake right about where her heart should be.
The woman hissed as she desperately sunk her nails into Martin's left forearm, he kept his grip however as he smacked the base of the stake with the mallet.
Martin felt the stake pass through the woman's body and straight out of her back, into the red cushioning.
He watched as what little colour the woman did have drained from her face and she sunk the base of the coffin, tumbling out of it as he stepped out of the way.
He wheeled around to check on Arthur, who was undergoing a unique experience.
As soon as he inhaled whatever the woman had blown into his face, Arthur's vision had become blurry, before it eventually started to morph and turn into swirls and patterns.
He stumbled around trying to find the torch, his ears and head felt thick. He grabbed on to a Martin-looking shape for support before trying his current best impression of a coherent sentence, "Holy fuck man", he forced out, "I think something was in that powder…"
[A/N - Thinking of changing the title to 'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely', I don't really like the old one and I think the new ones just a bit snappier, please comment down below if I should change it or not. Also thanks for 5k views and the collections, it means a lot.]
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