"What a shit heap..." Solomon was muttering to himself as he walked quickly through the city streets. It was raining, as it usually did, in great sheets of misery that soaked everyone and everything. Anyone who had the money or will to leave had already done so, leaving the dredges of humanity to serve their undead overloads. He had been forced to adopt the local dress of plain black leather pants, linen shirt, and tarred trench coat and hat to blend in. The large coat at least made it easy to conceal whatever he wanted.

The streets were running ankle deep with water which at least served to wash away the filth of the people who lived with no sewer system to speak of. He almost found himself missing the Eastern Kingdoms who took cleanliness seriously. He was genuinely concerned that if to many pleasant days became to arrive in the region that there would an outbreak of plague when no one bothered to clean up all the human filth thrown into the streets. 

He leapt a small stream running out of a tannery, the water a reddish brown in colour. He half expected to see some vampire hopefuls lapping it up for the blood content but alas, no one seemed interested. Ahead of him a tall house, a whole three stories, one of the largest on the street, boasted real glass windows and a solid wood door studded with metal. He took the steps two at a time and burst into the entryway.

A startled butler shuffled toward him but Solomon waved the man away. "No thank you Bertram. Where is her ladyship?"

"Upstairs, m'lord." The mans voice creaked like an old chair and Solomon was not entirely convinced that he wasn't just an undead minion. 

The stairs were made of black marble, one of the few building materials plentiful in this godforsaken Kingdom. The steps and railing were polished smooth by an ever suffering host of servants who existed only to please their mistress. It was clear that none of them liked her but what else could you do? A roof over your head and a bit of money to spend on Friday. They were doing much better than many of their fellow citizens.

"Is that you Josias?" A female voice floated out from a sitting room where the flicker of fire light was starkly warm against the chill in the rest of the house.

"It is indeed!" He called out and gave his head a small shake before he stepped into the room. He had long ago told himself he would do whatever it took to accomplish his task of destroying evil.

Two high backed sitting chairs were facing a large fireplace that blazed with heat. The rest of the room was in darkness save for two torches that illuminated a pair of girls who were chained to the wall by a wrist each. One was reading a book and the other sewing, both looked up as he came in and smiled. The small red marks on their necks indicated where their mistress had fed off of them. In order for a human to become fully transformed by a vampire they had to be literally bled to death. Partial bleeding would eventually pass, as it would with any wound.

A woman sat in one chair, her long glorious black hair hanging down about her shoulder blades. She wore a red dress with a silver necklace studded with jewels. She was a vampire, and his current lover. Like any Vampire, she had promised that she would not turn him nor feed on him until he wished to join her forever. Standard vampire nonsense when they found a new plaything. Though it was just as well, for his blood would be the death of her for no vampire could feed on a holy man and live. One small advantage to having suffered years of choir practice and attempted molestation by elder priests. 

She flew into his arms and kissed him deeply. Despite himself he found her dangerously attractive and the bulge in his breeches soon told her just how much. She smiled as she ran a hand over him, her tongue gently travelling across his lower lip. She stared up at him out of deep brown, almost black eyes, and he knew that there was no better place to hide from your enemies then in their own bed.

"Take off those awful clothes and come and tell me about your day." She purred in his ear, sliding a hand into his pants to give him a squeeze of promise.

"As your ladyship commands." He swept off his hat in a small bow and stepped into the next room. He quickly stripped down, carefully extracting a small package labelled "snuff" from his clothes and placing it in his pack. It was anything but. His time in the East had introduced him to a wonderful weapon called "black powder", an unheard of tool here in the West. It would help him with the next part of his plan.

But that would have to wait until the next day and until then he would enjoy the pleasures awaiting him in the next room. He stepped back into the parlour and found the lady of the house already naked, kneeling in the chair with her back to him. She smiled over her shoulder and gave her flawless backside a little wiggle. The two girls chained to the wall were staring at him. He had always enjoyed an audience and he smiled as stepped forward to claim what was offered.