My Sanctuary, My Home

The Blood that Started it All

"Where's the amazing lost city; the temples, the archives, a decent restroom?" Clara asked as we entered the city ruins.

"It's gone, destroyed long ago," Helen said as we looked around.

"By the age of this vegetation, I'd say, 50, 60 years?" Will guessed.

"One hundred years, if the growth pattern of this Hedera is any indication," James corrected.

"Destroyed how?" John asked.

"It looks like some sort of massive bombing. It couldn't have been from the air though; there were no planes that could carry that ordnance 100 years ago," Will said.

"But they did have cannons," I reminded him.

"Four days of constant bombardment, hundreds of men, and heaviest weaponry. Cannon placements there and there, long and short range; likely a combined effort with Russian, French and Spanish forces," James told us

"I thought by that point in history all the vampires were wiped out," Will stated.

"They were," Helen explained to him. "They retreated here to preserve what was left of their culture. They'd been culled to within a hairsbreadth of extinction. They weren't a threat to anyone. This was a slaughter."

"The church feared them," I reminded her. "The stories hadn't died down by then, just dismissed by most as folklore. But those who remembered passed their stories down the generations. That's what killed these people."

"I thought you hated them," Will said and I shook my head.

"No, Will. I may have killed my fair share of them, but I didn't hate them."

"Gregory's instructions mentioned a hall of records as a starting point," Will told them.

"They also mentioned a city, fully intact. For all we know, the caverns below have been destroyed as well," John pointed out.

"Vampires made things to last," I reminded him. "The caverns will be there."

"So then John, are you suggesting we just give up?" Watson asked him.

"Oh, don't bait me. I'm not in the mood," John warned slowly moving towards him.

"Perhaps if we were looking for some nubile lady of the night for you to slaughter, then you'd suddenly perk up and become incredibly helpful!" Watson continued to bait.

"Gentlemen, enough!" Helen shouted at the pair.

"Good work ole boy, another test of my loyalty," John said.

"Just checking," Watson informed before they parted and we started looking for a way in.

Helen, Clara, Will, James and I were all looking through the ruins as John teleported around the mountain to try and find another way in.

"Anything?" Helen asked John as he teleported in.

"Nothing for miles. No other entrances to the mountain," he informed us.

"There has to be a way in," I sighed.

"It'll be dark soon. We should head back and start fresh tomorrow," Helen suggested.

"No, no, no, you go," James told her.

"Yeah, I'm staying too," Will said.

"Something has to set a sense of..."

"...Scale. Yeah, exactly." The two profilers studied the site carefully, seeing what none of us could see. "There." Will pointed to something while holding the map in his hands.