Eternal Night

(II) Chapter 14: Constant Craving

"The footage you're seeing is coming to us live from the old factory district on the edge of the east side," the female news anchor announced, but the gravity in her expression seemed rather contrived, as if she had become numb over time to the horrors humanity had to offer.

Antón Bernardini, however, perked up at the announcement. He reached for the remote to the television to increase the volume a little, eyes fixed on the wreckage he was witnessing. The blood factory that had been an alliance target just hours ago was now completely engulfed in flames, the bright orange and yellow having managed to spread to some of the other buildings surrounding, despite the storm that now thundered over Budapest.

"It remains unknown whether or not this was purely an accident or a malicious act of arson, but we've received word from an inside source that there are bodies housed within the burning building. If these souls met their true death by the flames or by some other nefarious method, we can't say. But we'll be certain to keep you updated on any further developments as more information comes in."

"Thanks, Pam," a male anchor replied. "And now we go to Judy for the weather. That's some storm we're having!" This served as Antón's cue to lower the volume again.

The Italian unleashed a nervous sigh as the news report blended in with the background noise of a Scarlatti sonata and the rain that continued to pour just outside. He sincerely hoped that the events at the blood factory had been successful. With no word and little to go on when it came to the current media coverage, it left the man more anxious than he would have preferred to be.

Vladislaus would call in and report sooner or later, he told himself. All would be well.

Before he could alleviate his own sense of unease further, there was an unexpected knock at the front door that nearly had him jumping out of his skin. A quick perusal of the feed from a security camera had him moving with inhuman speed toward the foyer to answer on the second knock that came a little more impatiently.

His expression was one of pure delight, as he discovered none other than Vladislaus and Francesca on his front step. The two looked as if they had crawled out of hell itself, both soaked to the bone and stained in blood that thankfully did not appear to be their own. He picked up a faint hint of what stunk of exhaust somewhere on their persons and a quick glance to his left had him noticing the silent motorcycle that had been propped up against the wall of the house, hidden behind an overgrown shrubbery.

"Miss Chase! What kind of trouble did you get him into this time?" he inquired with a teasing grin.

"Nothing I didn't ask to get into," Vlad answered on her behalf. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call. We seem to have run out of fuel and I was hoping you might have some stored away that we could borrow."

"And here you used to mock my affinity for emergency preparedness. Yes, I do believe I have a gas can you could use."

"We would be most grateful," Frankie chimed in. "And while someone goes to fetch it, may I borrow your phone? I'd like to check in and make sure my brother is all right."

"Your brother? Whatever happened?" the Italian called out as he disappeared for a moment into the darkness of the house. "They just started reporting the blaze maybe ten minutes ago, but it seems the media have nothing to go on as of yet. All they have footage of is an aerial shot of the old factory district up in flames." He returned with a folded up tarp, proceeding to spread it out over the floor, particularly over the rug nearest the stairs.

"They're probably waiting for word from the palace," Frankie answered a little bitterly. "Want to make sure they spin this just right." She turned to Vlad. "I take it Basilio made it out alive?"