I'll Do It Myself

Aurik, fuming with anger, turned his back on Knight Ivan and left the room. Not only were his words completely ignored but he was accused of lying to get attention as well, how could he not be angry?

'Deep breathes... I can't just let this chance go. If I can do something, anything, to prevent the attack or at least screw it up for them then...' Aurik's eyes gained some resolve as he decided what to do next.

He walked over to the woman who seemed to be a sort of secretary and spoke with a calm voice and neutral expression.

"Knight Ivan told me to go to a place called the 'blood storage' but I've never heard of it before, I'm new you see, so if you wouldn't mind...?" Aurik added a hint of suggestiveness to his voice and pleading to his eyes.

The woman looked at him for a moment before sighing and writing something down.

"If he didn't specify then this is probably where you need to go." She handed Aurik the paper and he saw that it had an address written on it.

"Specify? What do you mean?"

The woman raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "You didn't think we would only have one storage facility, did you?"

"Ah... right, of course..." Aurik replied awkwardly before turning around to leave. "Thank you for your help." Although he didn't realize there would be multiple storage facilities, he knew it made sense not to keep everything in one place no matter how secure the building was.

At this point there was a little over an hour left until the sun started to rise and the attack would commence. Aurik knew that he couldn't waste any time so he immediately left the estate and hopped on the nearest Tram that was heading in the direction he needed to go.

There were far less Trams moving around in the middle of the night but Aurik was thankful that the government wasn't so useless as to completely shut them down as soon as the sun set. He, like many people in the city, had been the victim of stupid laws and rules far too many times. 

'Just when you think they can't get any worse they'll make the dumbest decisions and screw over the most people, yet the people still vote for them... makes me sick.' Aurik may have used the word sick in his thoughts but his true emotions were more akin to seething fury.

Whenever he would think about the government and the people who run the country his mood would immediately sour. This would lead him to think about the people who voted for those politicians and then he would get even more upset.

'It's not like regular people know what it takes to run a country, so how could they know who would be best to lead it, they just choose the person who says the prettiest words. This is why democracy is stupid, if I was in charge...' Aurik's thoughts ran wild as he imagined the change he could bring if he was given the chance.

He spent the next 30 minutes lost in thought like this before he reached his stop and climbed off the Tram. Another 5 minutes of walking, and a few minutes of backtracking after he went the wrong way once, and he finally arrived at his destination.

The light from the sun was already starting to brighten up the sky with a red-orange glow that ever so slightly dyed the city in the same colours. The building looked like any other warehouse in the area, albeit slightly smaller than the rest.

There was a large wall surrounding the entire property with only a single gated entrance at the front. Aurik walked up to the gate and looked inside, trying to figure out what he should do from here.

'I could try to climb over the wall... it's pretty high but with my improved body it should be doable.' Aurik looked at the almost 3 meter high wall (10ft) and tried to imagine himself getting over it.

Unfortunately, even though he was aware of his increased physical capabilities, Aurik just couldn't shake the human limitations he had come to know after 2 decades of life. In his mind there was no way to climb the wall without a ladder or something else to climb on first.

Just as he started looking around for something to use as a foothold, a voice called out to him from beyond the gate.

"Hey! Who's out there? This is private property!" Aurik looked at the man who was shouting and walking closer, quickly noticing the grey eyes and feeling a sense of familiarity all vampires felt when looking at others of their kind.

The man in the guard uniform seemed to realize that Aurik was a Vampire as well and quickly changed his tune from aggressive to curious.

"Oh, did someone send you from the estate? I thought there was still some time left before the shift change but I won't stop you from switching with me a little early." The man chuckled lightly as he walked to edge of the large gate and opened a smaller gate/door that was embedded inside for non-vehicle use.

"That's not why I'm here." Aurik said as he walked through the gate. "I work at a bar on the other side of the city and overheard some Mages talking about an attack on the blood storage."

"An attack!? Did you report it to the Knight on duty? Why aren't there any reinforcements then?" The guard was visibly nervous now as he asked a barrage of questions.

"I tried to report it but Knight Ivan said I was making it all up and-"

"Knight Ivan?" The guard interrupted. "Then it all makes sense. That bastard is the reason we have so few guards working at the warehouses lately. I keep making complaints but he says there's no reason to 'waste resources' when nobody would dare do anything to antagonize us."

"Are you saying there's not as many guards here as there should be?" Aurik asked, bewildered by the carelessness of Knight Iv- no, the old fucker.

"Yeah. There's supposed to be four of us on duty at all times but ever since Knight Ivan got involved the numbers have been dwindling. Right now, it's just me."