Prince Volus's request

As promised here is the next part of David Hunter's first adventure. I'm retelling the events from memory and I hope to be as accurate as possible, but for the sake of the story I might change a few things slightly to fit the account better.

Hounds of Hell

Ian and David were led down a corridor at the end of which was a big hall, where the two gentlemen that had entered earlier where already waiting in front of a big throne. The throne had giant batwings and on it was an impressive figure, who could only be Prince Volus. Next to him was a man dressed in a suit but with a hideously disfigured face. It didn’t help that he was probably in his sixties, when he was turned. The Nosferatu was probably the Prince's right hand and therefore also a person of respect. David threw a quick look around the room and he immediately noticed the abundance of guards stationed in the ballroom. One of them was strangely scratching his ear with his foot. When the four had finally assembled in front of the throne, the Prince cleared his throat and spoke, “Thank you for coming. As you probably already know you have been called upon to help in a bloodhunt, called out by the Gangrel clan. A fellow Kindred has gone on a killing frenzy and what is even worse, he is killing our own kind. My Seneschal Charles Taylor will get you up to speed.” The Prince glanced over to his left side and the Nosferatur stood up to address the four bystanders. His gaze momentarily locked with David’s eyes sending shivers down the young vampire’s spine. “As my master just told you, this task is of the utmost importance. There have been several violent deaths and we need you to investigate the scenes and report back here with your findings. One of our dormitories has been prepared for you and you will also find some gear downstairs if you need to stock up first.” At this moment the Prince stood up and walked out of the room. It was only at this point that the four realized that the giant wings were not actually part of the throne, but of Volus himself. ‘He must be a very old and powerful Gangrel to have such explicit animal features’, David thought to himself. The Nosferatu made a bow in his master's direction and continued, “Prince Volus is one of the first Gangrel who managed to create a civilized society amongst his Kindred, right here in London. Therefore, the conduct of the frenzied vampire is even more disruptive than usual. You have to stop him at all costs.” - “What’s in it for us?” David turned his head to see who had been so insolent as to ask such a thing. It was none other than the gentleman who had first entered the building. “Well Mr. Vathek, first of all you will help to keep up the Masquerade and prevent a possible clan war along the way. As if that wasn’t reward enough, the Prince has also agreed to please you with a proper monetary recompense.”

The boy could see a smile creep on Mr. Vathek’s face. ‘He must be of the Ventrue’, he thought to himself. His sire had often warned him about them and he still remembered his voice from the day he had been introduced to the Masquerade and the different clans. “The Ventrue are the nobility of our kind. These blue bloods hold the Masquerade very dear and are often leaders in our society. As such they surround themselves with worldly possessions and often sport an entourage of both humans and other Kindred. So beware, as they don’t take kindly to our more open-minded clan members. They think us mad and a danger to the secret nature of the Kindred.” He knew he could trust his master, but the fact that this Ventrue had chosen to apply for a reward other than the fact that he would protect the Masquerade took him aback. Maybe there was more to the different clan members than the strict teachings of his master had led him to believe.

“So if there are no other questions I would suggest you all get acquainted with each other, as you will be spending a lot of time together from here on out. Consider this your Haven for the next few days, we keep a small herd if you get thirsty. Just make sure that you don’t fall into a frenzy and destroy our home while satisfying your hunger.” David couldn't help but notice the Nosferatu's pointedly glaring at Brunswick while delivering that last bit. As the heavyweight seemed to have gotten the not so subtle hint the prince's Seneschal turned his attention to Mr Vathek, while whispering something to his personal guard. The sentinel went to the adjacent room and came back with a laptop that he handed to Taylor, who immediately started typing, still throwing an awful lot of glances at the Ventrue. The guard then came over to the quartet and led them to the cellar entrance. The four of them were left alone and as they were standing there in the room filled with shelves and what seemed like several large rectangular boxes on the floor, the man with the scar broke the silence. “Well this is quite a mess we got ourselves into. My name is Dr. Victor Brauner, some of you might know me from the papers, I’m quite a famous scientist.” - “Bronswick’s the name”, said the giant with the leather jacket. “Let’s get to it, got me a sweet lady waiting back at the chop shop.” Noticing the puzzled expressions, he added “Gotta bend her frame back to shape”, which didn't really help. “Chopper needs a new transmission,” he explained. Bike repairs. 'S what I do when I'm not busting punks. Anyway, ain't you a bit green to be part of this?” Now the doctor was also looking at the young man: “What’s your name son?” David looked up at Ian and then over to the other two men and gulped loudly, “My name is David… David Hunter.” - “If they expect me, Ruthven Vathek, to sleep in these twenty dollar coffins, those animal clowns are sadly mistaken. I guess I’ll have to call James to send over a decent bed.” – “Coffins? Those are coffins? And they want us to sleep in them? Are they insane????” Vathek looked at the boy and replied, “Well the Gangrel are not particularly known for their hospitality, but aren’t you freaking out a bit?” But David couldn’t hear him. He backed away to a corner and sunk on his knees talking to himself. “This can’t be happening…. How did I get myself into this mess?”