London Burning: The Pale Horse

[Katarina Gordislava]

Katarina stood in the shadows across the street from a raging fire that was consuming an apartment building and threatening another that was next to it. Mortals were scurrying about in the streets, and three firetrucks were in the road. It was chaos. Inside the buildings there were screams - no doubt kine being tortured by Baa'li, or some other type of demon spawn. Fires did not produce screams like that. The smoke choked the lungs of mortals and rendered them unconscious before they could burn.

Until the fire was out, however, she had no intention of sending any of her Cainites anywhere near the building. They were ranged around the perimeter of the disaster, looking for the demonic Baa'li. The demons had begun their reign of terror in London with a bang, and she had reports that in other cities across the UK similar things were happening.

She watched the scene calmly, wondering if any Camarilla would show up to this scene. The Kindred of the city, though numerous, were stretched thin by so many small attacks in many different areas.

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

Sergei was late to arrive. Underneath his arm he carried a newspaper, a copy of The Times with the headline 'A NATION IN CRISIS'. On the back of the previous years bomb scares, London was in a state of alert, the entire city on edge and fearful of more attacks. When buildings had begun to explode all across the boroughs, flame suddenly engulfing apparently random areas, the media had gone into a frenzy.

“They're reporting that... Islamic extremists are to blame,” the warlock explained, as he took a place beside Katarina, watching as the mortals tried to quell the unholy flames.

“Fortunately for the Camarilla, the kine seem to be eager to take responsibility... though I'm not sure how long they'll continue to believe their lies.”

[Katarina Gordislava]

She looked over the headlines silently. The firemen were having no luck with the flames. They were greenish, which meant beyond doubt that the warlocks were behind their appearance, and the water was having trouble making any sort of headway against them.

"They could be at this for hours." Katarina folded up the paper and handed it back to her Vizier, who tucked it under his arm again. She turned and headed down the street, for all appearances just another woman out gawking at the fires. Except she wasn't gazing wide-eyed at the unnatural flames, she was striding with purpose to another building about two streets over.

"How many survivors did we find?"

Sergei kept up with her easily, his longer legs stretching out to make up for her quicker steps. "Only two. There is enough blood residue to account for at least eight other bodies."

An even ten. Baa'li spread destruction quickly after the initial infestation, and were killing to increase misery in the real world, and weaken the threads of reality that held their demon masters at bay. "We'll see if these two kine heard anything, and then destroy them so they cannot come back."

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

The streets were frantic. London was no stranger to fire; its people knew all too well how quickly it could spread through the terraces and avenues. Some frenzied kine were coping by bundling their most valuable belongings into their cars, almost consigning their homes to ash. The building that Katarina and Sergei were headed for head already been scorched black, though the flames had been mercifully confined to a single house, more thanks to the Sabbat than the mortal police.

As the Archbishop and her Vizier approached, a Lasombra neonate materialized at their side, and began to explain how the kine had been recovered. They were in the 'care' of another pair of Kindred, who held them in a Dominated trance. “I don't think you're going to have long with these two,” said one of the Lasombra, eying the kine warily. They were both trembling, their minds all but shattered by the nights events.

[Katarina Gordislava]

The otherworldly pain that the Baa'li brought to their victims was written all over the room - in blood. Usually the odor of so much blood enclosed in a single room would have sent any Cainite to near frenzy, but there was no such arousal here. The room looked like it had been redecorated by a mad butcher.

One of the kine had a tourniquet around the stump where his arm had been. It was still oozing. Katarina had no doubt the rest of his limb was around the room somewhere, most likely in pieces. They both bore the marks of a Baa'li bite, she on the thigh, the other on his side. They would die soon, and Ivan would remove their heads just to be certain there was no chance the kine would turn.

He stood in the corner, hands on the hilt of his sword. Watching.

Katarina turned to the woman, who seemed to be the most coherent thanks to the expert use of Domination by one of the Londoners. "The things that did this to you - how many where there? Where did they go?"

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

“There were so many of them,” she gasped. “So many... thirty, forty, fifty perhaps. Tiny little things. It was as if they erupted out of the ground beneath us.” The woman looked to her companion, as if expecting him to confirm what she had said. It was difficult to determine whether his head was nodding in agreement, or simply as a nervous twitch.

“There were people with them. Men and women,” managed the man. Sergei turned away, surveying the area in silence.

“It looked as if they were moving towards the city center,” the woman added, with a faraway gaze.

[Katarina Gordislava]

The city center. Not very good news. Though, perhaps the demons would lay waste to the Barbican Arts Centre on their way to wherever they were going. Katarina smiled slightly, but then nodded to Ivan.

Everyone stepped back, and the Archbishop was already thinking about their next move as Ivan dispatched the suffering kine with two quick strokes of his sword. Their heads rolled onto the floor, and the three Lasombra who had assisted melted away into the shadows. Ivan, Sergei and Katarina remained, Ivan cleaning his sword before sheathing it.

"The city center. What are they trying to accomplish?" She added quickly, "Other than to turn all of London into a cauldron of misery and pain. I imagine that the ...Ventrue... have the Queen and the other kine Royals locked up tightly with the highest security."

As the trio of Sabbat walked out of the house, the greenish fires down the street were beginning to die down. There were no more otherworldly screams, and true fire had sprouted in place of the Baali flames. The firemen were finally getting things under control. The Archbishop flipped her phone open, dialing Roland Salisbury of the Ventrue, to let him know what they had uncovered.

[Roland Salisbury]

The line rang three times, as it always did, before a calm voice answered.

“Report.”

[Katarina Gordislava]

Report. Like she was just another neonate. Katarina bit back some choice words, and replied calmly. Icily calm, in fact.

"The Baali intrusion here," he knew where here was, no need to bore him with details, "is over. They killed ten kine, and they have ...kidnapped at least that many as well. They are heading towards the city center."

[Roland Salisbury]

Roland did a quick calculation in his mind, picturing London from a birds eye view. “We have Chelsea and Kensington secured. Divide your resources between the Islington and Camden boroughs. A large number of Nosferatu coteries should be on hand to support you.”

Salisbury paused. Katarina could hear distant voices, a conversation taking place nearby the Ventrue Primogen. He muffled the handset and said something indistinguishable, before addressing the Archbishop: “Is there anything else?”

[Katarina Gordislava]

"No, Roland, there isn't anything else." She paused, "Are you having a meeting, Roland?" Then she frowned. The Ventrue Primogen had already hung up.

She slipped her phone into a pocket, and skewered a Londoner with her eyes. "Take word to McClain, he is to take his group to Camden and do what he can. The Baali are letting us box them in."

She didn't like it, not one bit. They must have something else planned.