The air completely black, it was unusually warm for what would have been expected at that time of year. The flashing neon signs and dimly lit shop windows acting as beacons to guide him along the path.
Edging down an alleyway, it became even darker. He was greeted at the door by a sliding hinge and a silence as he handed a folded piece of parchment to the damaged grey hand behind it. A chill descended on him as he stepped across the threshold, finding himself again questioning why these creatures enjoyed it so. Also an... odd composure of music. What sounded like early Baroque era strings mixed with a constant thud and an assortment of synthesised - what could only be described as - noises.
His eyes moved slowly across the room, taking in the rustic surroundings. The unusual clothing some of the younger patrons had grown accustomed to was a distraction; red, green, purple, black; mostly black.
An older one rose from where they were seated, bearing two pointed teeth at either side of their wryly smiling mouth as they blocked his path; a flash of amber in the Lupine's eyes and a piercing glare encouraging them to reluctantly take their place at the table.
As he neared the several meters thick metal door at the far end of the room, he could feel a thousand eyes upon him, watching his every move.
Inside the spacious office, decorated with exquisite paintings and ornaments from a time long forgotten, there was a focused grey face hidden behind a computer screen on top of an old oak desk. A tall guard with a tattooed face made his way towards the desk and left on it, the folded piece of parchment which had been given to whoever, or whatever, was attending the door.
"Ah yes." The grey face smiled. The Blood Drinker rose from behind the desk, extending a hand, motioning toward the two curved, yellow leather chairs before him.
"To what, may I ask, do I owe this... most unexpected, of visits?" it asked as the Lupine sat.
"A message. From the Merovingian."
"Ah, I see..."
The vampire turned and focused his attention back on the piece of parchment still on the desk, unfolding it and reading it to its entirety with the utmost concentration. Removing a thick quill from a pot of ink which sat beside the laptop on the desk, he turned the parchment onto its other side and began writing on it a fine calligraphy before rolling it into a cylinder and tying around it, a scarlet ribbon.
"You will see that our benefactor receives my correspondence, hm?" he asked briskly as he handed the tied parchment back to the Lupine.
"Of course" the Lupine replied solemnly.
The ancient creature returned once again to behind the desk, checking the effects of its typing on the larger monitor, stopping every few moments to survey the screen of the smaller laptop.
The Lupine waited patiently as several minutes passed before the patterned face once again entered through the metal door and escorted him from the room.
Once outside however, he could... smell... sense a human close by. One of the awakened. He stopped dead, his eyes darting wildly across the jumping club; frantically trying to identify which of them was not code-born. He followed it to the sidewalk at the end of the alleyway. Too many bluepills. Too many red. He had lost the trail.
He gave out a restrained snarl and lost himself in the shadows.
