1. Macabre Marmalade (COMPLETED; EDITING)

XXXV (16.2)

The rest of the day Todor spent training even more than he usually did. With help from Ezezu and her bank of knowledge of potions, he was alert and fresh entire day without the need for sleep. When finally he went to rest he was feeling much better about accepting the Governor's job invitation. Tomorrow we make a good showing of ourselves, he thought to Ezezu. In return, he got a wave of emotions. He sighed and forcefully blanked his mind managing to fall asleep a few minutes later.

Todor woke with a start, his awareness blaring a warning in his mind. He extracted his arm trapped under Cassandra and grabbed Jolt special he held ready at the nightstand. Bare feet sinking into the carpet he moved to the window to survey his yard through the curtains.

Most nights Cassandra and he just fell asleep in the livening room, rarely going up to the bedroom. But tonight it got too late for her to go home so they skipped the movie and went straight to bad. Which was fortuitous since his newly awoken senses told him there was someone on the ground floor.

He growled and walked to the hanging coat by the door. There he rummaged into the pocket looking for few potions he kept there. He grabbed one and slammed it into his mouth. Gritting his teeth, he tore through the plastic foil while the brackish water inside bathed his tongue. Power of alchemical concoction hit him right away, speeding his movement and slowing down the world around him. He slipped into his coat painfully aware that he wore only boxers. He unsheathed the sword that rested propped up on the wardrobe.

What ... Why ... I sense dead people down below, Ezezu echoed groggily in his mind. I know, I think two of them are vampires, Todor informed her glancing back at the sleeping form of Cassandra. Should I wake her up? He wondered. Let her sleep, we can take care of this quietly, Ezezu's answer came, confident and without fear. If she wakes in the middle of the fight she will kill both of us, you know. Ezezu sent amusement instead of replay.

He put his glasses on and the world became visible in the gloom. The radar from the coat marked intruders a second later. He got surprised that his magical senses could see only four, while his radar detected six forms. Two are humans, it means they are mana neutral, Ezezu proclaimed. Todor nodded and sneaked down the stairs.

The intruders were looking through the furniture without hid for anything. What tickled Todor as strange was that he didn't hear them at all even though he was just outside of the living room. He squinted a bit forcing his eyes to focus and he noticed flimsy field made out of barely visible webs of mana flow. Strands vibrated every time someone broke a vase or dropped the contents of the drawer to the floor. They are using magic to stop the sound from spreading, he puzzled it out. But what are they looking for here?

He made a step through the web of sound catching magic and hid behind the large plant. He hated the thing since he always forgot to water it, but now he could kiss it. Hiding from the eyes of intruders he sprained his ears to listen and observe six men.

"I don't think he would leave it here, in the common room, unguarded," one of the strangers said. Todor concluded it was male Anadori in a black suit and red tie he learned represented the death cultists.

"Cattle doesn't think logically, just make their stomach and genitals feel good and their brains shut down," one of the vampires said. Two of the group murmured between each other at that. Ezezu you seeing this? Two cultists, two vampires, and two humans. How the fell that happens? The Ezezu hummed in his mind. Why are vampires working with them though? I can guess two humans are their bloodbags, but vamps are not known to work with anyone, she mused slowly. Todor fidgeted, itching to charge at people who dared desecrate his home. But he held his growing outrage at check. He gripped his pistol in left hand and sword in his right and listened further.