GasglowJones
Count Dimensio The Hunter's Curse PT I: Auld Fang Syne.
Location: Advent City.
Date: December 31st 2019.
“Jones?.. JONES!!!”
I jolted awake to find Fluxx staring me in the face while odd sounding electronic music filled my ears
Oh right. New years eve party… Joy…
“What time is it?” I asked groggily.
“Eleven fifty. Ten minutes til new years!” He replied excitedly.
“Right. Roaring twenties here we come…” I said trying to sound enthused.
I decided to get up off the couch and mingle a bit in order to stay awake since courtesy of the previous night’s activity it was proving to be a difficult task.
The IDPD had been on high alert lately due to continued abductions and had to bring in members of the criminal rehabilitation program to assist with the field research. Chief had finally managed to pry some info out of Huxley and learned that Gravestein had reached out to several multidimensional outlaws and fortune hunters. Providing “power enhancement” in exchange for gathering “test subjects” from various dimensions. Chief assumed the criminal community was simply unaware of Gravestein’s defeat and set up an “update” to where any crooks were to meet the Doctor. Stationing a few undercover officers at the location.
But I had a feeling something else was going on. It wasn’t just monsters and metabeings disappearing. Average humans were vanishing as well.
The most recent being my old “frenemy” as Fluxx called it, Maria Morfran who had gone missing while on holiday in London.
It all seemed very odd and I was about to go mad from the sleepless nights of research and tracking.
Which leads to why I’m at this party to begin with. To try and unwind.
“Bonsoir Count!” Said one of my teammates as he approached me. I recognized them to be one of the fellows I met on Halloween.
“Ah, le Professeur. Comment allez-vous ce soir?” I replied matching his French. And for those of you who aren’t fond of linguistics I essentially said ‘how are you this evening.’
“Fair. Which is likely better than you given your appearance. Stressful assignment from the Interdimensional task force?”
“You have no idea…” I said with a yawn. “Say, did you get those journals I sent you?”
“Indeed. They were most informative. And you’ll be happy to hear that I completed my study and destroyed the last vial of Dracula’s blood over the weekend. Quite a tedious process.”
“Good riddance!” I exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “You’d be amazed at how many times that blasted strigoi has been resurrected thanks to that blood…”
Just then we were interrupted by one of our armoured cooperatives whom I believe goes by the name Rongzero.
“Come on you guys, it’s almost midnight!” He exclaimed pushing us over to where everyone else was.
“Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…” they started counting. And as they did I started feeling strange.
“Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…”
A thumping sound started pounding in the back of my head. Wait, was that, my heartbeat? I haven’t heard that since-
“Thirteen, twelve, eleven…”
I quickly leaned up against the wall as I started feeling dizzy and my vision became blurred. The light of the room seeming to get brighter and brighter.
“TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!”
The thumping became more rapid now and my ears started ringing.
“SIX! FIVE! FOUR!”
All the pain culminated into what felt like two daggers being shoved into my wrist.
“THREE… TWO… ONE…”
the pain was finally too much and as everyone shouted ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’ I fainted.
When I opened my eyes I found myself back in my lair lying on my bed. All the pain having ceased entirely as though it were simply a nightmare.
“Somebody must’ve spiked the punch…” I muttered as i climbed out of bed and shifted to the living room. Bypassing the stairs. There I found Fluxx passed out floating slightly above the couch.
He looked as though he had been there a while.
“You alright mate?”
Fluxx jumped at my words. groggily opening his eyes and standing up.
“I should be asking you that… You’ve been out for a few hours now…” He stated while groggily rubbing his eyes.
“Well no need to worry mate. I feel fine now.” I said cheerfully. “In fact I feel absolutely splendid! I must’ve been farther behind on sleep than I thought.”
“Good, I’ll give the others a text that-“
Fluxx stopped mid sentence as he slipped on his glasses and stared at me in surprise.
“Jones? Are you partially shifted or something?”
“No, not at the moment. Why?”
“Well your face is sorta pale and uh…”
Flux trailed off as he motioned behind me to the mirror above the mantle of the fireplace.
I turned around to see… Nothing. Well, I saw Fluxx and everything in the room but not myself.
“As if you didn’t already look like a vampire…” Fluxx said with a nervous laugh trying to lighten the mood.
“I am afraid this is no laughing matter Fluxx…” I said turning around and walking into the next room. Motioning for Fluxx to follow.
we entered my study and I reached under the edge of my desk. I flipped the small brass toggle switch and with a loud hiss and clicking of clockwork the door to the room we just came from appeared to slide along the wall, around the corner and onto the other wall, revealing a library with a series of bookshelves that curved around the ceiling in a way that looked to defy gravity.
While my companion gazed in awe of the architecture I walked over to the first shelf and pulled out an old bestiary, then back into the study and sat down at the desk. (Flipping the switch again to return the door to it’s original location.)
“Let’s see… Sphinxes, Spiriduși, Spriggans, Squonks…” I muttered reading off the index.
“What in the world is a squonk?” Fluxx interjected. looking over my shoulder at the text he likely couldn’t read.
“Oh, a rather sad little critter with a monstrous and wrinkly appearance.” I answered as I flipped over to the V section when I didn’t see strigoi listed under S. Legend says they can cry themselves into a puddle of tears to evade capture. Now then… Valkyrie, Valravns… Ah, here we are. Vampires. Page 1487…”
I turned to the page number only to find it was missing from the book. and in it’s place was a note. Written in elegant cursive on parchment that looked older than any man alive.
“That wretched knave…” I cursed as I deciphered the text which was written in Romanian. it essentially said “Your books won’t help you my child. Your fate is sealed.” – Contele Dracula.
“Fluxx, where does the Professor live?" I asked setting the book down.
Fluxx shook his head. “No idea. He may still be at his Lab though. Why do you ask?”
“It appears something has gone awry… Dracula still lives…”
“Wait, Dracula? You mean he’s real?!”
I nodded with a look of surprise upon my face. “Didn’t you hear about the professor’s run in with him back in October? With the Knights of the Hallow and all?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t really believe it was actually Dracula.”
“Yes, his followers managed to help him return to this realm via vials of blodd from his original form… However I fear the Professor has mucked up something while he was destroying the last vial of blood. Or perhaps it triggered some sort of time released virus that-“
I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair to get my focus back on the task at hand.
“Let Sharp know I won’t be able to attend the training session today… I have things to attend to…” I said taking off my coat and swapping it out for a black and brown hooded robe.
I flipped up the hood and turned to face my companion who was looking at me quite worried. A mutual feeling honestly…
“I’ll keep you posted on what the Proffesor and I figure out. Until then you and the others keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary savvy?”
Fluxx nodded.
“Will do Jones. Good luck…”
with that I shifted to the streets of advent city. Just a short walk from the HQ. oddly it was still dark out so I didn’t have to worry about the infection causing me to burn in sunlight.
just to be safe though, I stuck to the alleyways. So I didn’t spook anyone trying to get home after a long night of partying.
I soon rounded a corner and came to the back door of the Professor’s laboratory. Thankfully there was a light shining through the window which meant he was still there. So, I knocked on the door.
“It’s open Count.”
How did he- right, smartest man in the world…
I reached for the doorknob only for a burning feeling to shoot up my arm when I touched it.
Drat strigoi can only enter when invited inside… The Prof hadn’t directly asked me in.
So, I simply knocked again.
this time the Prof came and answered himself.
“Hmm. Vampire virus?” He asked upon seeing my appearance.
I nodded.
“Well, Come inside and you can help get to the bottom of this…” He said motioning for me to enter. “I have a feeling we’re all in for a very long night…”
to be continued...
Count Dimensio The Hunter's Curse PT I: Auld Fang Syne.
Location: Advent City.
Date: December 31st 2019.
“Jones?.. JONES!!!”
I jolted awake to find Fluxx staring me in the face while odd sounding electronic music filled my ears
Oh right. New years eve party… Joy…
“What time is it?” I asked groggily.
“Eleven fifty. Ten minutes til new years!” He replied excitedly.
“Right. Roaring twenties here we come…” I said trying to sound enthused.
I decided to get up off the couch and mingle a bit in order to stay awake since courtesy of the previous night’s activity it was proving to be a difficult task.
The IDPD had been on high alert lately due to continued abductions and had to bring in members of the criminal rehabilitation program to assist with the field research. Chief had finally managed to pry some info out of Huxley and learned that Gravestein had reached out to several multidimensional outlaws and fortune hunters. Providing “power enhancement” in exchange for gathering “test subjects” from various dimensions. Chief assumed the criminal community was simply unaware of Gravestein’s defeat and set up an “update” to where any crooks were to meet the Doctor. Stationing a few undercover officers at the location.
But I had a feeling something else was going on. It wasn’t just monsters and metabeings disappearing. Average humans were vanishing as well.
The most recent being my old “frenemy” as Fluxx called it, Maria Morfran who had gone missing while on holiday in London.
It all seemed very odd and I was about to go mad from the sleepless nights of research and tracking.
Which leads to why I’m at this party to begin with. To try and unwind.
“Bonsoir Count!” Said one of my teammates as he approached me. I recognized them to be one of the fellows I met on Halloween.
“Ah, le Professeur. Comment allez-vous ce soir?” I replied matching his French. And for those of you who aren’t fond of linguistics I essentially said ‘how are you this evening.’
“Fair. Which is likely better than you given your appearance. Stressful assignment from the Interdimensional task force?”
“You have no idea…” I said with a yawn. “Say, did you get those journals I sent you?”
“Indeed. They were most informative. And you’ll be happy to hear that I completed my study and destroyed the last vial of Dracula’s blood over the weekend. Quite a tedious process.”
“Good riddance!” I exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “You’d be amazed at how many times that blasted strigoi has been resurrected thanks to that blood…”
Just then we were interrupted by one of our armoured cooperatives whom I believe goes by the name Rongzero.
“Come on you guys, it’s almost midnight!” He exclaimed pushing us over to where everyone else was.
“Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…” they started counting. And as they did I started feeling strange.
“Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…”
A thumping sound started pounding in the back of my head. Wait, was that, my heartbeat? I haven’t heard that since-
“Thirteen, twelve, eleven…”
I quickly leaned up against the wall as I started feeling dizzy and my vision became blurred. The light of the room seeming to get brighter and brighter.
“TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN!”
The thumping became more rapid now and my ears started ringing.
“SIX! FIVE! FOUR!”
All the pain culminated into what felt like two daggers being shoved into my wrist.
“THREE… TWO… ONE…”
the pain was finally too much and as everyone shouted ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’ I fainted.
When I opened my eyes I found myself back in my lair lying on my bed. All the pain having ceased entirely as though it were simply a nightmare.
“Somebody must’ve spiked the punch…” I muttered as i climbed out of bed and shifted to the living room. Bypassing the stairs. There I found Fluxx passed out floating slightly above the couch.
He looked as though he had been there a while.
“You alright mate?”
Fluxx jumped at my words. groggily opening his eyes and standing up.
“I should be asking you that… You’ve been out for a few hours now…” He stated while groggily rubbing his eyes.
“Well no need to worry mate. I feel fine now.” I said cheerfully. “In fact I feel absolutely splendid! I must’ve been farther behind on sleep than I thought.”
“Good, I’ll give the others a text that-“
Fluxx stopped mid sentence as he slipped on his glasses and stared at me in surprise.
“Jones? Are you partially shifted or something?”
“No, not at the moment. Why?”
“Well your face is sorta pale and uh…”
Flux trailed off as he motioned behind me to the mirror above the mantle of the fireplace.
I turned around to see… Nothing. Well, I saw Fluxx and everything in the room but not myself.
“As if you didn’t already look like a vampire…” Fluxx said with a nervous laugh trying to lighten the mood.
“I am afraid this is no laughing matter Fluxx…” I said turning around and walking into the next room. Motioning for Fluxx to follow.
we entered my study and I reached under the edge of my desk. I flipped the small brass toggle switch and with a loud hiss and clicking of clockwork the door to the room we just came from appeared to slide along the wall, around the corner and onto the other wall, revealing a library with a series of bookshelves that curved around the ceiling in a way that looked to defy gravity.
While my companion gazed in awe of the architecture I walked over to the first shelf and pulled out an old bestiary, then back into the study and sat down at the desk. (Flipping the switch again to return the door to it’s original location.)
“Let’s see… Sphinxes, Spiriduși, Spriggans, Squonks…” I muttered reading off the index.
“What in the world is a squonk?” Fluxx interjected. looking over my shoulder at the text he likely couldn’t read.
“Oh, a rather sad little critter with a monstrous and wrinkly appearance.” I answered as I flipped over to the V section when I didn’t see strigoi listed under S. Legend says they can cry themselves into a puddle of tears to evade capture. Now then… Valkyrie, Valravns… Ah, here we are. Vampires. Page 1487…”
I turned to the page number only to find it was missing from the book. and in it’s place was a note. Written in elegant cursive on parchment that looked older than any man alive.
“That wretched knave…” I cursed as I deciphered the text which was written in Romanian. it essentially said “Your books won’t help you my child. Your fate is sealed.” – Contele Dracula.
“Fluxx, where does the Professor live?" I asked setting the book down.
Fluxx shook his head. “No idea. He may still be at his Lab though. Why do you ask?”
“It appears something has gone awry… Dracula still lives…”
“Wait, Dracula? You mean he’s real?!”
I nodded with a look of surprise upon my face. “Didn’t you hear about the professor’s run in with him back in October? With the Knights of the Hallow and all?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t really believe it was actually Dracula.”
“Yes, his followers managed to help him return to this realm via vials of blodd from his original form… However I fear the Professor has mucked up something while he was destroying the last vial of blood. Or perhaps it triggered some sort of time released virus that-“
I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair to get my focus back on the task at hand.
“Let Sharp know I won’t be able to attend the training session today… I have things to attend to…” I said taking off my coat and swapping it out for a black and brown hooded robe.
I flipped up the hood and turned to face my companion who was looking at me quite worried. A mutual feeling honestly…
“I’ll keep you posted on what the Proffesor and I figure out. Until then you and the others keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary savvy?”
Fluxx nodded.
“Will do Jones. Good luck…”
with that I shifted to the streets of advent city. Just a short walk from the HQ. oddly it was still dark out so I didn’t have to worry about the infection causing me to burn in sunlight.
just to be safe though, I stuck to the alleyways. So I didn’t spook anyone trying to get home after a long night of partying.
I soon rounded a corner and came to the back door of the Professor’s laboratory. Thankfully there was a light shining through the window which meant he was still there. So, I knocked on the door.
“It’s open Count.”
How did he- right, smartest man in the world…
I reached for the doorknob only for a burning feeling to shoot up my arm when I touched it.
Drat strigoi can only enter when invited inside… The Prof hadn’t directly asked me in.
So, I simply knocked again.
this time the Prof came and answered himself.
“Hmm. Vampire virus?” He asked upon seeing my appearance.
I nodded.
“Well, Come inside and you can help get to the bottom of this…” He said motioning for me to enter. “I have a feeling we’re all in for a very long night…”
to be continued...